Vampire's Fear
by PowerGuyG4
Summary: A halfbreed vampire finds purpose when he is recruited for Commander Shepard's mission to fight the Collectors and finds an unexpected friendship with the aliens. Assuming reader's knowledge of the game, though Mass Effect 2 will be thoroughly spoiled. Rated M for language, violence and adult references. Chapter 9 (Vampire Hunter's Prize) posted on February 24, 2017.
1. Freedom's Progress

_This story will spoil Mass Effect 2. Some events will be different and quotes aren't identical. This story is not told from Commander Shepard's perspective._

Freedom's Progress – an unremarkable human colony in the Terminus Systems. Small, portable buildings situated on blocky mountains served as homes, schools, stores, cafes, businesses and government facilities. It had everything to serve its roughly one million inhabitants but its complete lack of casinos and high-end nightlife absolutely did not appeal to Mathias von Delacroix, a halfbreed vampire who began to regret his decision to follow his friend Dan here. Why Dan wanted to come to this plain, uninteresting rock was beyond Mathias. Why Dan wanted Mathias to come was even more mystifying. They had arrived a mere two hours ago from Earth, and Dan had essentially disappeared into the colony right after their passenger shuttle landed, leaving Mathias to his own devices.

Mathias felt his stomach complain. A cafe – First Cup – was in plain sight. He started towards the cafe, eyeing the few surrounding colonists with his glowing red eyes as they stared him down. While all the humans of Freedom's Progress were plainly dressed and unexciting, Mathias' appearance differed vastly. The way he dressed in dark black clothing with an illuminated red trim; no sleeves revealing his highly toned biceps, his skull-tattooed face, his black, white-tipped hair with a dramatic swoop over his right eye, his snow-white skin. While mostly human, he was completely alien to these humans. Mathias laughed at the thought of the colonists running in fear if they had gotten the chance to meet his father. He'd have paid money to see that, but that wouldn't be possible. His father had been dead for twenty-three years.

He entered the cafe, and the human cashier appeared to have almost soiled her pants. Indeed, Mathias' presence was rather unnerving due to his appearance and menacing smirk. He loved to intimidate everyone around him, let his strength be known. He even took pleasure in knowing that despite his sinister appearance and aggressive attitude, he had women begging to sleep with him, even some men. "C-can I help you?" The cashier stuttered, keeping her gaze trained on Mathias' luminous red eyes. She thought Mathias was trying to look into her soul; his gaunt facial features sent a chill down her spine. He leaned in, his already great height becoming more striking. The cashier could feel and hear Mathias' breath.

In a menacing fashion, he began to speak: "I will have your daily special." The cashier began pressing into the holographic point of sale system. Mathias could easily tell her body temperature had risen. Her discomfort was amusing to him. "Th-th-that will be..." Mathias moved in closer as the cashier began to speak again. "It's fifteen credits." She backed off. Using his omni-tool, Mathias completed the transaction and in a few minutes the cashier was back with his order: a sandwich with turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and honey mustard sauce on ciabatta bread, a cream of potato soup and a blueberry danish.

Mathias took the tray, and as he turned around, the two humans sitting at a window-side table quickly cleared it. He took the spot, looking out on the red sunset. He started with the soup. It was hot and went down smooth. The flavour was satisfying. He thought for a moment – were the ingredients purchased from Earth, or were they grown here, or somewhere else? Regardless, it was better than most.

As he finished his meal, Mathias noticed a distinct rumbling noise coming from outside. The cafe's startled patrons got up and went outside. Mathias did as well, pushing past the colonists. He went into the plaza and looked up. The sunset cast an ominous light on the clouds, as a massive starship appeared in the clearing. Swarming clouds soon followed, as did panicked shrieks from the colony's residents. Perplexed, Mathias examined the ship. It was like nothing he had ever seen; cylindrical in shape with an exterior that appeared to be rocky in nature. Just as the colony's defences began to start up, they suddenly shut down again; the security mechs dropped back to the ground. Mathias looked around as the colonists began trying to hide in the portable buildings. As they did, the swarming clouds descended close enough to the ground to be revealed as little insects. They stung the colonists, and when they did, they froze in their places. Mathias was startled when he saw this, and began using his powerful biotics to repel them. He suddenly felt a sharp pain on his right shoulder.

He quickly created a biotic shield large enough to encompass himself. His muscles began to tense up, but unlike the other colonists he did not freeze. He could move freely, albeit a little sorely. The massive ship began to park itself vertically on the ground not far from Mathias' location. He removed his shield and pretended to be frozen like the other colonists when strange, armed insectoid creatures began storming the area, being followed by odd coffins. These creatures began taking the frozen colonists, putting them in the coffins and taking them away.

It is when the creatures attempted to take Mathias that he revealed to them that they did not have him. Using his powerful biotics, he sent several of them flying very far. The creatures began to fire at him, and he immediately put up a strong shield around himself, simultaneously sending powerful bolts of energy that ripped through the bodies of the creatures. In response, they sent more strike teams towards him and he decided it would be best to flee.

Mathias ran past the portable buildings and blocky rock formations, almost tripping over several frozen colonists and entered a large clearing, having left the main colony. The creatures continued to pursue him; likewise, Mathias continued to kill them. More and more of the creatures came after him and they soon started firing more powerful weapons at him. If Mathias hadn't been who he was, he would have easily died but every shot they sent at him, he deflected towards them.

After several minutes of being attacked, and numerous dead creatures, they finally gave up and left him alone. Mathias kept his defences up, just in case they came back. He found a spot to hide under a rock formation and stayed there for a couple hours. He soon heard a quiet rumble, and then besides the wind, silence. Leaving his hiding place, Mathias went to explore the now abandoned colony. Everywhere he looked, there was no one. He ran into the First Cup cafe. The cashier he intimidated, the other patrons, were all gone. No blood, no signs of struggle. He left the cafe and explored deeper into the colony, noticing that the bodies of the creatures he killed were all gone. There was nothing but silence, and no signs of life besides himself. That meant Dan must be gone too. Mathias was a little more than intrigued. The now-moonlit night made the colony much more ominous.

He heard a noise and saw the source; a shuttle, not those creatures again. He also saw another person scurry into a small warehouse. Minutes later, the colony's security systems reactivated themselves. Security mechs suddenly got up and strangely began attacking Mathias. They should have detected him as being mostly human, based on his human appearance. Like the earlier creatures, the mechs were no problem for him to disable. Mathias ran to the warehouse the person ran into.

Entering, he saw a quarian sitting in front of an array of monitors. Mathias could hear the quarian babbling in a state of paranoia as he monitored the colony's defense systems. He approached the terrified quarian. "Hey!"

No response. The quarian simply kept his focus trained on the monitors, switching the security camera views, and seemingly collecting the footage. Mathias saw a recording of the creatures abducting the humans. He positioned himself against the desk so the quarian could see him, but he paid Mathias no mind.

Mathias grabbed the quarian's arm. He jumped and looked at Mathias, who could see beyond the quarian's mask that he was quite alarmed. "You...You-you're human! Where did you hide? Why didn't the monsters take you?" The startled quarian asked. He was quite visibly vibrating.

"They're too weak to have taken me." Mathias gloated. He could see the security footage on the screens, as the creatures took the frozen humans and put them into the unusual coffins. The humans looked helpless as they were taken. Why, he wondered. The creatures took the humans like one would do when harvesting fruit from a tree.

The uptight quarian continued. "Seeker swarms, machines like little insects. They sting you, freeze you, then they take you. Why are you still here?"

"I wasn't frozen. They didn't freeze me, and I fought them off. What are these creatures, do you know what they are?" Querying, Mathias examined the images on the screen. The creatures, insectoid in appearance, looked nothing like the other aliens. Their heads, when viewed straight on, were like upside down pyramids, but they extended backwards a considerable amount. They had four eyes glowing orange and no mouth.

"They...They didn't freeze you? Why?" The timid quarian asked, looking Mathias up and down. "How did you stop them?"

"I don't know. My biotics are unmatched. They couldn't stop me." Mathias examined the quarian some more. "What is your name?"

"I am...My name is Veetor."

The door to the building Mathias and the quarian named Veetor were in suddenly opened, Mathias' biotics flaring up in response. He readied himself to attack the intruders, only to see three well-equipped humans; two men and one woman. The flaring stopped, and the humans approached. Veetor got up from his chair.

"Veetor?" The man, who Mathias assumed to be the leader, asked. He was quite handsome; black hair, black stubble, scarred eyebrow, gaunt facial features and piercing blue eyes. His graphite armour must have weighed a ton, but the man could clearly handle it. He had very noticeable facial scars, with a strange red glow beneath them, perturbing Mathias.

"You...You're not one of them! You're human too...Where did you hide, why didn't they find you?" Veetor sounded even more surprised now that there were more humans. All others were frozen and abducted. They must have been the ones from the shuttle that Mathias saw land.

"Who didn't find us?" The woman, with black hair and wearing a white and black skin-tight suit spoke up. She didn't sound like she cared much for Veetor's situation more than the bottom line – information. The way she asked it was some what monotonous. The woman was very beautiful; curvaceous form, plump posterior and firm breasts. Her makeup was minimal as she had a natural beauty that makeup would simply obstruct. Her hair was black and unkempt, her eyes a piercing blue and her face full. The way she dressed indicated she liked to serve as a distraction to enemies, and Mathias thought she probably had no real value in a fight. The pistol she carried was probably less than what she might need.

"The...The monsters. The swarms. They took everyone. They're all gone, but they'll be back for me. No one escapes!" Veetor was quite visibly shaken and sounded as if he were on the verge of tears. Mathias found the incident disconcerting but he was not scared. Mathias couldn't remember a time he was truly afraid, after his father's death. Mathias cringed at himself before his loss; he was so weak back then, nothing like the powerful, perceptive and strangely attractive man he is now.

The other man, of African descent stepped forward slightly. He appeared to be in peak physical condition; slim and strong. His head was shaven but had light stubble on his face. Like the other two, he was rather alluring. "We aren't survivors. We just got here to investigate what happened."

Before Veetor could speak again, Mathias put a hand out in front of him to stop him. He stepped forward. "Before we continue, I would like to know who you are." He said, trying to remain diplomatic yet unfazed. He noticed the symbol on the outfits of the three investigators. It rung bells, but Mathias couldn't quite place his finger on where it was from.

The man in the middle looked at Mathias in a quizzical manner. "I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy." He motioned to the woman first, and then the other man. "This is Miranda Lawson, and this is Jacob Taylor. We were sent by Cerberus to investigate the disappearance of the colony. Who are you, and what do you know about what happened here?"

Mathias sneered at the Commander. Terrorists, investigating an attack on a human colony? He turned back to Veetor, and motioned for him to turn on the screens to show the Cerberus operatives the surveillance footage. He turned back to face the operatives. "My name is Mathias von Delacroix. This might be self-explanitory."

"You don't know. You didn't see, but I see everything." Veetor turned around and replayed the footage, showing the creatures taking the incapacitated humans and putting them into the floating coffins.

Miranda approached the screens. "Looks like security footage he pieced together manually." The camera in the security footage panned across the building, providing a clear view of one of the weird insect-like creatures.

Startled, Jacob reacted to the footage. "What the hell is that?" Veetor paused the footage in clear view of the creatures.

"I don't know. There were lots of them here – creatures like humanoid bugs. They arrived in a massive ship, much larger than any I had ever seen." Mathias replayed the fight he had with the creatures in his mind. He didn't know how many of them he killed, but he found it somewhat strange that none of the bodies were left over, maybe to avoid leaving evidence. He remembered hearing the news about other human colonies completely disappearing with not a single shred of evidence. The disappearances were often blamed on slavers or terrorists. Some even theorized that it was Cerberus' doing, but Mathias now thought that it had something to do with the creatures that he encountered.

"My God. I think that's a Collector." Miranda grimaced her face, as did Commander Shepard and Jacob. Mathias could sense Veetor's heart rate rising, one of the skills he possessed due to his vampirism.

"A Collector? That's what those creatures were? I thought it was some bullshit invented to scare people or keep them in line." Mathias searched the security footage to see if he could see himself fighting off the Collectors, but that bit had not been recorded. Veetor looked away from the screens in an attempt to curb his panic.

Commander Shepard shook his head. "They're an advanced species that live somewhere beyond the Omega 4 relay. They don't normally show themselves in the Terminus Systems, and are even rarer in Citadel space. Only a few people have seen one in person."

Miranda continued for Shepard. "They usually work through intermediaries. They pay slavers and mercenaries outrageously for strange organic specimens, then leave. No one knows what happens to their specimens because they're never heard from again." She turned to face Shepard. "If they're working for the Reapers, it might explain what happened to the other colonies."

"The Collectors have very advanced technology. They might be able to disable an entire colony all at once. To add to what you said, Miranda, they often pay these slavers and mercenaries with their technology. Anyone with Collector technology will have an automatic edge over enemies in battle." Mathias perked up in response to Jacob's input. He remembered seeing the colony's mechs drop to the ground when the Collectors' vessel was preparing to land.

Mathias held up a hand to grab everyone's attention. "Wait! I think you might be right, Jacob. I distinctly remember all of the mechs suddenly disabling themselves. Then clouds of tiny bugs started swarming the colony and freezing everyone." He massaged his right shoulder where one of the bugs stung him and felt it was still a little tender, but tolerable.

Veetor nodded. "The seeker swarms. No one can hide. They sting you and freeze you. Then, the monsters take you away." His voice was shaky. "You are lucky. No one is left behind, they'll be back for me!"

"The seekers must use a nerve toxin or a stasis field to immobilize their victims, but keep them alive. This footage clearly shows the immobilized humans, completely at the mercy of the Collectors. Why didn't they take you, Mathias?" Examining Mathias, she became fixated on his eyes due to their seemingly unnatural glow.

Mathias shrugged. "I don't know. I was stung, but all I felt was a slight heat in my muscles. I wasn't frozen, and I fought them off with my biotics." He noticed the Cerberus operatives all staring at him, thoroughly scrutinizing him.

"What are you? You look human, but you're abnormally white. And your eyes..." Jacob asked. "Have you been genetically modified?"

Mathias glowered. As he began to speak, he intentionally bared his razor-sharp fangs. "Guess." He taunted.

Commander Shepard, asserting his dominance, stepped forward to Mathias, who did not flinch. "I don't appreciate threats. I'm doing an investigation and I expect cooperation. There are no humans left in this bloody colony except you. I would like you to be straight up with me."

Unfazed, Mathias breathed deeply, looking the Commander in the eye, letting him know that his intimidation was ineffective. "Do you know what a vampire is? That's what I am. Didn't ask to be, but it's how I was born."

"That might explain why the Collectors didn't take him. Vampires are similar to Vorcha in that they have advanced cellular regeneration and a vastly evolved immune system. They're immune to all disease, and that might have prevented the nerve toxin from disabling him." Miranda explained as she viewed DNA profiles on her omni-tool.

"I heard of Vampires. I studied them on my pilgrimage. But I don't know much. Most humans believe them to be a myth." Veetor said, still visibly shaken. Mathias suspected the quarian of being neurotic, and having some form of an anxiety disorder.

Jacob activated his omni-tool and brought up information for reference. "There are two forms of vampires. One is vampirism, a condition in humans spread by vampires, and the other is its own species. Miranda's right – they are immune to disease, but they're also known to be completely immortal. Mathias could literally be hundreds of years old." Mathias looked at Jacob bewildered, but Jacob shook it off. "If we had a seasoned scientist, Mathias' genetic material could provide a countermeasure against the seeker swarms."

Before anyone else could speak, Mathias jumped in. "I'm not going to be your test subject."

"We'll only need a small DNA sample. Vampires are so rare we don't have much in the way of biological data. Without your help, we would be helpless if we ever ran into the Collectors." Miranda began preparing her omni-tool to run an analysis. Begrudgingly, Mathias held out his right arm, stretching his large, firm and toned bicep. With his left hand, he drew blood from his wrist and allowed it to drip onto Miranda's omni-tool. Mathias covered the wound with his left hand and using his biotic powers he accelerated the healing process to close it. The small sore spot on his right shoulder disappeared shortly after. "Thank you. Cerberus will study your DNA. The fact that the seeker swarms were unable to disable you will assist us greatly in our mission."

"What about you, Veetor? Why didn't the Collectors take you?" The Commander changed his tone quite significantly in comparison to how he spoke to Mathias earlier. This time he was a lot softer.

"Seekers didn't find me. Monsters didn't know I was here."

"His environmental suit might have kept him from showing up on their scanners. Either that or they're using technology to detect specifically humans." Jacob suggested, looking at Veetor. "The Collectors aren't known for being careless."

"Only human colonies have been attacked." Miranda added.

"I killed many of the Collectors. They kept attacking me, and I kept killing them. Eventually, they just left me, and I was able to get away. I noticed their bodies were gone when they left. The Collectors must have taken them with them." Mathias explained. The Commander, with his hand on his chin, nodded.

"Shame. We've never had the opportunity to study the Collectors." Commander Shepard turned back to Veetor. "What happened after the Collectors took the humans?"

Mathias could hear Veetor's breath. He couldn't understand how he was so badly traumatized. Mathias felt that what happened was wrong but he hardly felt terror. "The monsters took the people onto the ship, then it flew away. But they'll be back. No one gets away!"

"We appreciate what you both told us." The Commander nodded.

Veetor's mood began to improve, as Mathias noticed his heart rate dropping and the speed at which he was breathing. "I studied the monsters. The swarms. On my omni-tool – lots of readings. Electro-magnetic, dark energy. No matching profiles." Veetor reviewed his findings on his omni-tool.

"Cerberus will need to study the data." Miranda eyed Mathias suspiciously. "Grab the quarian and the vampire, then call the shuttle to pick us up." As she instructed, another quarian – this time a purple-suited female – entered the warehouse.

She interrupted, sounding quite upset in protest of Miranda's suggestion. "What? Veetor is injured and needs treatment, not an interrogation!" She approached the group.

"She's right. I don't trust Cerberus' racist agenda. It's already too much that I had to speak face to face with you." Mathias' snide response drew a glare from Miranda.

"We won't hurt him, we just need to see what else he knows, then we'll return him to the flotilla-" Commander Shepard held up his hand to cut off Jacob.

"Veetor's traumatized and needs medical attention. Tali will give us the data from his omni-tool and take him to the flotilla." The Commander nodded towards the female quarian, apparently named Tali. Mathias exchanged looks with Miranda.

Miranda, a little surprised, accepted Shepard's command and dropped the matter. Tali thanked Shepard, and expressed her desire to join his team but her loyalty to her own mission prevented her from doing so.

Mathias frowned. "I'm not staying here. Someone's taking me off this bloody rock."

The Commander turned to Mathias and examined him: Mathias was clearly in peak physical condition, was fearless (if not a bit aggressive) and would likely be a valuable asset to his team. "Mathias. You should join our team. You have the most experience with the Collectors than any of us here."

Miranda used her omni-tool to collect information on Mathias, who had to restrain himself from angrily cussing her out. He liked his privacy and Miranda had no qualms about invading it. He felt she was learning everything about him, from his complete history right down to the thoughts in his mind. "Shepard, he is not among the dossiers given to you by the Illusive Man. We don't know much about him, and he can't come with us right now. The Illusive Man will have to look over his dossier. I'm already collecting physical information. Mathias, if you want to join our team, you'll need to provide us with your personal information."

Mathias rolled his eyes, then thought for a minute: this could turn out to be a fruitful endeavour. Commander Shepard was clearly going to go after the Collectors, and it would give Mathias an opportunity to prove himself to someone whose reputation was actually valued. Using his own omni-tool, Mathias forwarded his personal details to Miranda; date of birth, academics, history, abilities. "I'll take you up on that offer, but you will have to make it worth my time." He replied to the Commander, who nodded in affirmation.

"You can't come with us right now. The Illusive Man will need to look over your dossier before you can be approved to serve aboard the Normandy SR-2 for the duration of this mission. Tali will take Veetor back to the flotilla, and she can have you sent back to the Citadel or another location." Miranda explained as she saved his data.

Tali nodded towards Mathias, and he followed her and Veetor back out to their own shuttle. In the shuttle were two other injured quarians. The unknown pilot directed the shuttle off the planet and into the vast expanse of space. Sitting on one of the shuttle's benches,- Mathias supported his upper body with his arms on his legs. He was lost in thought, starting to regret his decision to join the Commander's team. He had no doubt in his mind that they were going to go after the Collectors and while he didn't have much of a problem with it, the idea of being evaluated and having other lives depending on him didn't appeal to him. As a lone dog, Mathias also didn't care for the idea of fighting with others rather than against. He hoped his past run-ins with the law wouldn't cast a bad light on him as this "Illusive Man" he heard mentioned earlier probably wouldn't approve, but then again Cerberus had a shady reputation and was human-centrist so perhaps it wouldn't matter. He was aggressive enough to draw the attention of Commander Shepard, whom he knew to be well-respected, as the one who defeated the Reaper Sovereign.

"Tell me about yourself." Tali asked Mathias as Veetor remained attached to her arm to comfort himself.

Mathias propped up his head and shrugged. "What do you want me to tell you?" He felt that aggressiveness would not be appropriate and he acted accordingly. His attitude towards Tali was rather neutral; neither friendly nor unfriendly.

"You seem to have drawn the Commander's attention, and I'm curious to understand. What's your name? Your background, what do you do, et cetera? You look different from other humans."

Mathias rolled his eyes. "The main reason I minimize sentient interaction is because everyone is quick to point out my differences. You really want to know? I'm something that most humans think is a lie. Most don't even believe me when I tell them I'm a vampire." He paused to look down. In truth, he longed for a close relationship with other people but they always shunned him because of who he was and especially what he was.

"A vampire?" Tali repeated.

"Yes, a vampire."

"Tell me about them."

He paused. Tali sounded genuinely curious, where others simply asked just to maintain conversation. He curled his mouth. "Well, most humans think that we're just a myth, ancient folklore. Other species never heard of us. You want to know what I am? I am a halfbreed vampire, meaning I have the properties of a pureblood vampire but in a human form. In other words, I'm much stronger than other humans, I can't get sick, and if everything goes well, I'll live forever. This condition also makes me incredibly pale and it also makes my eyes glow. My biotics are also unmatched."

"Does being a vampire enhance your biotic abilities?" Tali appeared quite intrigued, as she had leaned in to listen to Mathias more closely.

"In a sense. I don't know how much you know about human history, but the condition, as well as pureblood vampires, have existed alongside humans for thousands of years. We've always been a rare bunch, and many religious groups considered us demons, especially since we've always had well developed biotics even without bio-amp implants because the part of Earth we originate from had a high concentration of Element Zero. We've been regularly hunted for thousands of years. There's a reason the oldest vampires to have ever lived only survived half a millennium. Even in the age where humans are more tolerant than ever, I must be careful because I never know what might happen. If I defend myself, I know I'll be blamed." The memory of his father was too painful. Murder remains the number one cause of death among vampires. Mathias sat up straight and took a deep breath to get his mind off of his painful memories. "My biotics are highly advanced. Like I mentioned, vampires have naturally developed biotics, which can be further enhanced with bio-amp implants like mine. And, considering the fact that I'm a descendant of a powerful bloodline, I am deadly indeed."

Tali noticed Mathias' emotion as he described the vampire slaughter. "It sounds like you're missing someone."

Mathias closed his eyes to keep himself calm. "I'm not going to talk about it." Though his father was killed twenty-three years ago, the vision was still deeply engraved in his mind. Mathias lost him when he was only seventeen, a bad time in his life when he was completely at the mercy of his mind. The only reason he was still alive was because of his father. Thanks to his loss, Mathias became somewhat cold-blooded, and a lot of his aggressiveness and resentment can be traced back to his loss.

Tali decided not to press him further on the matter. "You mentioned pureblood vampires, and that you're only a halfbreed. What's the difference? I've never really expressed this to anyone, but ever since I met Commander Shepard two years back, I've had a bit of a fixation on your kind."

Now preoccupied by thoughts of his past, Mathias struggled to even find the desire to speak anymore. Tali's curiosity in him was bothersome, but deep in his mind he welcomed it as he never got the opportunity to open up to anyone. His closest friend, Dan, was a bit of an oddball. Always coked up on some weird new drug, and usually distant, but almost certainly gone now. "Halfbreed vampires are just glorified humans. Pureblood vampires are much different and amazing. They're massive, winged creatures. They have long muzzles full of razor-sharp teeth, horns on their heads, over-developed muscles and claws on their fingers and toes. But, their best defining features are their red skin and colossal wingspans. The only way they resemble regular humans is their bipedal humanoid form. They're part of the reason religious humans considered them demons, because that's exactly what they look like. You don't fuck with a pureblood because I can guarantee they will rip your head off... Literally. Unfortunately, their enormous strength wasn't enough to protect them against widespread slaughter. I've... Seen their... Heads mounted on the walls in ancient ruins." The idea appalled him.

Taken aback, Tali remained silent. She did studies on human religion, and based on Mathias' description she was able to form an image in her mind of what these creatures looked like. Renaissance and medieval art sometimes depicted such creatures, and she soon began to realize that some of the stories she had read may have been true. Humans were known to be a superstitious bunch and it came as no surprise that these creatures were subject to brutality. Tali kept a small private collection of human mythologies in her private quarters back on the Rayya, a ship in the flotilla.

"How is vampirism spread?" She asked.

Mathias shook his head. He wondered when the questions would stop. "Multiple ways. A human can become a vampire by a bite from another vampire, or you can be born one like I was. If the father was a vampire himself, the offspring will always be vampires themselves. And, before you ask, halfbreed vampires and pureblood vampires are capable of interbreeding, because pureblood vampires and humans are ultimately closely related."

"So at least one of your parents was a vampire."

A sharp pain entered his chest like a stake had been driven into his heart. Mathias couldn't believe she had the audacity to ask such a personal question. She might as well have asked him about how talented he was in bed. He gave her a cold stare and she backed off. "That is none of your bloody business."

Tali threw up her hands in appeasement and remained silent for the next couple of minutes, when Mathias decided he had a few questions himself.

"Were you interrogating me?" He was irritated and wanted to show her. "No one asks that many questions without knowing a person first. What's your ambition?" Veetor became nervous when Mathias mentioned interrogations.

She just stared at him, not sure how to answer his question. She was truly interested in the human-vampire in front of her, and didn't think she would offend him as she hadn't done so before. "I didn't mean to offend you. Like I said, your kind fascinates me, more so than other species in the galaxy. Humans are ambitious, individualistic creatures. You're more varied than the other races, and you specifically are something of an anomaly."

Mathias crossed his arms and looked at Tali with a somewhat mischievous expression. He chuckled under his breath. "I see what's going on here. You have a human fetish and want to get into my pants." He made Tali very uncomfortable, and he knew it. He could see her blushing furiously behind her mask. He laughed at her expense, and it felt good, especially since it took his mind off of his painful memories.

"Wait, what? No, no, no... That's not what I meant." Tali's attraction to Commander Shepard made the situation more awkward than it needed to be. She had developed a crush on him when she worked closely with him two years ago. "Besides... I could die if I slept with you. I could get incredibly sick if I simply took off my suit's mask, even for a second!" Many people disapproved of inter-species relationships, especially when one in the couple was a human.

Mathias shook his head and looked to the ceiling. "Whatever you say." The remainder of the ride to the flotilla was silent.

Looking out the shuttle's window, Mathias could see many of the quarian Migrant Fleet's fifty thousand ships. Tali got up and started a communication link between her and the flotilla. "This is Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya, requesting permission to dock with the Rayya." Mathias pressed the side of his face against the window so he could see forward as much as possible, and he saw the Rayya; a massive ship with a gargantuan rotating orb at the end that likely served to simulate gravity.

"Permission granted, Tali. Dock 37a is open." A male quarian instructed over the shuttle's intercom.

Tali opened the microphone on her end. "This shuttle is not clean and we require decontamination. We also have a human on board who will be departing the flotilla shortly, but needs a clean-suit before boarding. Prepare a medical team, we have a few of our own requiring medical treatment."

"Ignore Dock 37a; move instead to Dock 46b. The human is not authorized to board the Rayya. You must return him to where he came from." Mathias didn't believe the quarians' refusal to let him aboard the Rayya was out of spite or racism. He knew very well that outsiders were rarely given access to any of the ships in the flotilla for a number of reasons, most likely because the quarians liked to keep their ships cleaner than the typical medical operating room.

"This human is a refugee from one of their recently attacked colonies and we cannot return him to the colony. Have this shuttle's pilot return him to the Citadel." A refugee? Really? Tali crossed her arms and stood up as the shuttle docked inside the designated bay in the Rayya. She attended to the other two injured quarians, and got Veetor to stand up. They helped the two injured quarians into the decontamination room, but Tali motioned for Mathias to stay put in the shuttle.

Once Tali, Veetor and the other two quarians were whisked away by ready medical teams, the quarian shuttle backed out of the Rayya and headed towards the nearest Mass Relay, propelling them thousands of light years in a matter of seconds. The shuttle's excellent force equalization prevented Mathias from putting in any effort to keep himself stable. The jump between Mass Relays was very euphoric, providing the shuttle's two occupants with unusual sensations. The shuttle was soon left on its own after a few Mass Relay jumps, and in a few hours the shuttle began preparations to dock on one of the Citadel's five Wards: the Zakera Ward.

The ship was decontaminated, and once Mathias offloaded himself he was decontaminated as well. He stopped in at the Customs desk, gaining access to the ward and finally entered the main plaza. He knew that the Commander would be able to find him if they decided to come looking for him, and even though he wanted to return to his apartment back on Earth he decided not to book passage back to his homeworld just to make things more convenient for the Commander, should he come find him. Instead, Mathias headed to a hotel lobby to book himself a room.

The turian hotel attendant, unlike other humans, did not stare him down due to his differed appearance but he also did not appear intimidated by Mathias. Mathias was tired and annoyed so instead of asserting his dominance the way he normally did when interacting with other people he simply booked a room for a week and upon obtaining his room key and finding his room, he threw himself onto the cheap but comfortable bed.


	2. Welcome to the Team

It had been a few days since Mathias' encounter with the Collectors. He hadn't left his inexpensive hotel suite since he first rented it out with the exception of going out to get food. The truth of the matter was that as time progressed he found himself struggling more and more to cope with the events that unfolded on Freedom's Progress three days prior. Mathias may have considered himself to be highly aggressive, fearless and powerful and while that was true he did not lack empathy and was not unsympathetic, understanding that other humans were experiencing gut-wrenching loss like he had. He had realized that the frozen humans remained completely conscious when he noticed their eyes moving while the rest of their bodies were paralyzed. He imagined the horror of being completely at the mercy of the Collectors as they did as they pleased to their victims. He felt that torture could only be justified if the torturer was sure their victim was lying, and he thought that the torture of innocents was unwarranted. He looked forward to the Commander contacting him.

The bed's light blue sheets were thin, but they did not lack in comfort. Mathias rolled around underneath them, doing his best not to undo their neat spread, while soaking up the cool sensation on the other end of the queen-sized bed. He had been awake for the past ten minutes after enjoying several hours worth of sleep. It was now ten-thirty in the morning in his hometown of Calgary, a large trading hub and resort city situated in the mid-northwestern United North American States. Since its economic explosion one-hundred and sixty-five years ago, it had turned into a massive metropolis, and essentially became one big tourist trap being home to many towering casino resorts and nightclubs. It even has bragging rights for being home to some of the tallest buildings in the galaxy. It is thanks to Calgary that Mathias is as hedonistic as he is. Back home, there were only a few nights he didn't spend his time at a casino, playing mindless card games or in a nightclub dancing the night away high on Hallex.

Through the small hotel suite's window, white light from the sun that the massive space station orbited poured in, filtered by the anti-radiation glass. Mathias had forgotten to tint the windows before he went to sleep several hours earlier but considering he was now awake it wasn't much of an issue. He sluggishly and groggily left the bed, tidying the sheets and then walking over to the window to look out. He admired the handiwork of the long-gone Protheans who built the station over fifty-thousand years ago; his window provided a spectacular view of all five of the station's long wards, connected to the torus-shaped Presidium. It was truly a sight to behold, even humanity's Gagarin Station in orbit around Pluto couldn't compare. Rooms with a window to the space outside were uncommon in this hotel, and guests would pay a premium for them. One hundred credits a night didn't seem like much of a premium to him, but considering a regular room without a window to the outside galaxy was only about fifty credits per night his room really was a premium.

Mathias stretched his body, raising his arms high into the air. It felt good to be up and moving again after remaining stationary for hours. He moved towards the bar fridge that every hotel room in existence seemed to have and opened it, grabbing the meal he purchased for his breakfast – a simple cheeseburger and fries. Mathias wasn't particularly fond of alien food, but there were a few asari dishes which appealed to him. Of course, he could simply sneak a snack from an unsuspecting victim, human or otherwise, but more often than not people didn't appreciate having his teeth sunken into their necks.

While Mathias reheated his food, he turned on the TV. It was already tuned to the Citadel's news channel, and the asari news anchor was finishing a story on the closure of a restaurant after it was discovered a couple of batarian chefs were poisoning human customers. Mathias retrieved his heated food and began to eat it sitting on the bed while he watched the TV. Now, they were talking about their 'inspired citizen' of the orbit; a story on a monstrous krogan, who instead of fighting some meaningless war was taking care of and sheltering orphaned children that lived on the Citadel.

The cheeseburger was somewhat bland; low quality lab-grown beef, cheap sauces, somewhat stale bread and old vegetables prepared by some uncaring turian who was eager to go home. The fries weren't any better, having been cut from soggy potatoes and deep fried in old vegetable oil that desperately needed to be replaced. It didn't help that Mathias was in a not-so-great part of the Zakera Ward, and it came as no shock that the food wasn't very good. It was much unlike the rougher parts of his hometown that were full of ethnic and foreign restaurants where the food was always to die for - sometimes literally.

Mathias was sick of eating the unpleasant food but didn't want to waste it so he wolfed it down as fast as possible. Keeping his attention trained on the television, he stripped off all his clothes and placed them into the washing machine adjacent to the bathroom door and started a cycle so his clothes would be clean by the time he got out of the shower. The bathroom was a wet-bath; no separate tub for a shower. Despite the risk of water leaking out, Mathias left the bathroom door open so he could keep watching the TV while he showered. A bloody commercial break – Mathias grumbled under his breath. Advertisements are intrusive and annoying, offering to sell you a product or service you don't need for way more than what it was worth. The water was warm and soft, and it felt good to cleanse himself of the grime that had been building up for the past few days. He always took a daily shower and hated not being able to do so, and the refreshing sensation helped him to release the stress which had built up over the past few days.

The wall against the shower controls was one big mirror. Mathias jokingly thought it was intended for couples but more realistically thought it was intended for hotel patrons to better clean themselves; however, he used it to examine his form. He admired his firm abdominal muscles and pronounced pectorals. "Damn, I'm sexy." He smiled devilishly for a second, but his smile faded when his mind began to drift back to his teens. He pictured himself a month before his father's death; a nonathletic, wimpy, cowardly seventeen year old boy always stuck in his books. His father always told him he was just fine the way he was, but during high school gym class he would covet his male classmates' physiques. When changing for class, he'd literally hide in the lockers to change in order to avoid being seen by them – especially the one boy – the Jock, just one year older than he, would constantly pick on him for having skin as white as the snow and not having a body chiselled by the gods. They frequently called him 'snowflake', they would shove him into walls, down stairs and force him to drink toilet water. They frequently took his things and forced him to miss his bus to go home. On occasion, they would corner him in the locker room and beat him.

One day, while changing for class, he had hidden in the locker before his other classmates entered and began hastily changing, only to realize he had forgotten underwear that day. He hurried in getting his gym shorts on, only to be abruptly hauled out of the locker. It was him – the one who constantly picked on him – who pulled him out. "Hey, everyone! Look! Snowflake's completely naked!" The Jock yelled. Mathias, covering himself with his shorts in his hand stood in the open locker room like a deer caught in the headlights of a car as all the other classmates laughed hysterically. His face was completely red, and his heart beat rapidly. He put on his shorts as fast as he possibly could and left the school faster than a wolverine on Angel Dust.

A few months later after his father's death, Mathias decided to get in shape: he worked out for five hours a day, seven days a week for a few years, while maintaining a strict diet and he soon became an Adonis; he also grew in height from the one-hundred and sixty-seven centimetre teen he was to the one-hundred and ninety-one centimetre man he is now. The combination of losing the only one who ever cared about him and having been teased for years turned him into the man he dreamed of becoming and more. While he worked out, he swore revenge on the one who picked on him. How he'd do it, he didn't know, but he would make the Jock suffer. His psyche also began to change; he became more aggressive, vengeful, resentful, cunning and cruel. He grew out his hair and dyed the tips white and had his face tattooed to resemble a skull in order to appear more vicious.

The day he got his payback finally came: He was in a quiet convenience store close to midnight picking out some snacks to have while he played video games on his TV. While he browsed he noticed him – the Jock – enter. Mathias kept a low profile as he stalked him, and once the Jock left the store, Mathias silently followed him. He followed the Jock into a dark alleyway where Mathias jumped him and pinned him to the ground. "Do you remember me?" He growled. "It's your pal, Snowflake. Don't you remember? We were such good friends." Mathias mocked him sarcastically while staring into the Jock's eyes with his own glowing red eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" The Jock breathed quickly, struggling to break free of Mathias' grip. Mathias knew in his mind that he could have beaten the Jock in a fight prior to him getting into shape due to the simple fact that he was a vampire; however, now that he had trained his body to take advantage of its power, he was sure he could probably rip the Jock in two. Mathias smiled at the Jock menacingly, and laughed maniacally as the Jock tried but failed to release himself from Mathias' grip.

Mathias made sure to intimidate him by baring his razor-sharp fangs. "Bullshit! You know damn well what I'm talking about!" He lifted his shirt to show the Jock a scar on his lower abdomen, from a laceration thanks to the Jock shoving him into a dilapidated steel fence, then running once he saw what he had done a few years back.

It was at that moment that the Jock stopped playing coy and gave in. "Look, I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I really am! Please, just don't hurt me! I'm so sorry, let me make it up to you somehow!" Mathias could feel the Jock vibrating under him, so significantly others might notice it. "Just let me go!"

Mathias chuckled and furrowed his eyebrows. "People like you are only sorry when it's you in a submissive position, at the mercy of your superior, but when it's someone less than you, you let all hell break loose. I never forgot the hell you put me through, you son of a bitch." Mathias got up and picked up the Jock by his throat and threw him several metres. While the Jock struggled to regain his balance, Mathias balled his hand into a fist and uppercut him, sending him a metre into the air then falling to the ground, barely conscious. Sweat poured down the Jock's face like he had just gotten out of the shower, his head spinning.

The Jock gasped for breath. "Please!" He muttered, desperately looking into Mathias' eyes. Mathias was about to lay into him some more as he was angry enough to break the Jock's ribs having curled his hands into fists, but he had a change of heart. Mathias could clearly see that the Jock was truly sorry as he had been before; he had not seen his true sorrow before as he was blinded by rage. He could no longer feel nearly as angry at the Jock.

Mathias threw a handkerchief he kept in one of his pockets as a fashion statement into the Jock's lap and crossed his arms, maintaining a frown on his face. The heat built up in his body had yet to cool down. "Clean yourself up." The Jock wiped his face with the handkerchief, then put it into his own pocket and began struggling to his feet. Mathias helped the Jock up and looked him dead in the eye as he wavered trying to keep his balance. "You're lucky. Killing you is below me." The Jock nodded and slowly and dizzily walked away with a hand on his head, Mathias watching him as he turned the corner.

The TV in his hotel suite resumed its original programming, calling Mathias' attention back to the present. The asari news anchor began a new report about the incident at Freedom's Progress. Pausing his shower routine, Mathias listened more closely to the report, holding onto the door frame for support.

"The Alliance has completed an investigation at Freedom's Progress, the most recent human colony to disappear. An investigation report suggests that batarian slavers are responsible for the disappearance of the human colonists and are beginning to search for them in the Terminus Systems. So far they have no leads and their searches come back empty-handed but the Alliance vows to continue searching, hoping to rescue the missing colonists." The asari news anchor maintained her professionalism as she lied. Mathias scowled at the television and had to restrain himself from running out of the bathroom, soaking everything and yelling at the TV. "Security footage obtained from the colony shows batarian slavers shutting down the colony's security systems and kidnapping the humans at gunpoint." Mathias threw his arms up into the air.

Staring at the TV, his face wide-eyed and shocked as water ran down. "Bullshit!" He slammed the bathroom door shut to drown out the TV and continued cleaning up. "How can they lie about that? I can't believe them! I know what happened, and that's not what happened!" He huffed angrily, rinsing the shampoo out of his hair. He turned off the water, dried himself off and styled his hair with his bangs swooped over his right eye then left the bathroom. His clothes were not quite clean yet, they were still drying.

Either the Alliance provided misinformation or Cerberus provided misinformation but it did not rule out the news agency fabricating information to cover for what really happened back on Freedom's Progress. This was the first time they outright lied about what happened to the human colonies, where before they merely 'speculated' when reporting on the disappearances of the other human colonies. There was a knock at Mathias' door. He quickly approached it and looked through the spyhole to see who it was, and beyond the door, he saw Commander Shepard, Miranda and Jacob. They must have tracked his omni-tool. The washing machine beeped, having completed its cleaning and drying cycle. Mathias dressed himself in his black and red attire then returned to the door, opening it.

He presented himself diplomatically in an attempt to sarcastically mock them. "What do you want?" Buttoning up his shirt the rest of the way, the squad entered his hotel room and closed the door shut. They turned around to face him.

"The Illusive Man has looked over your dossier and approved you for this mission." Commander Shepard explained. Mathias crunched his lips and crossed his arms, looking around the room to divert his gaze from the trio as he thought about his options. "Based on your encounter with the Collectors, the fact that you had survived and your apparent abilities the Illusive Man believes you would be a valuable asset to our team. We have a scientist aboard the Normandy SR-2 currently studying your DNA in order to provide a countermeasure against the Collectors' seeker swarms." Mathias backed up to the bathroom door and leaned against it as he studied the Commander.

"I take it you're going to brief me on our mission?" Furrowing his eyebrows Mathias inquired for an answer despite the fact that he already had a good idea of what their goal was. He noticed Miranda repeatedly giving him odd looks and held his hand up, palm to the ceiling. "What?" Without even waiting for a response, he looked down and realized that his fly was undone and his bright red underwear was visible. Not hesitating he zipped it up, remembering the time his classmates laughed at him, half naked after he was forced out of his hiding spot. Somewhat amused, Miranda smiled, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, shaking her head and holding back a snicker.

All jokes aside, Commander Shepard continued, "Our long-term goal is to find a way through the Omega 4 Relay and hit the Collectors where it hurts most – their home world." Using his omni-tool, Shepard sent Mathias the mission briefing while continuing to explain. "In the time being I am recruiting additional talented soldiers, warriors and mercenaries to increase our chances of success. You must understand that this is a high risk mission and there's a strong probability that we won't return from it." Mathias looked over the briefing with his omni-tool, having also received the dossiers for other humans and non-humans Shepard was to recruit. Only one of the dossiers was that of a human. If Mathias accepted the mission, it would be the first time he had worked so closely with other aliens before. It piqued his interest, especially the dossier of a convict named Jack, whose description seemed somewhat similar to Mathias'. He looked up from his omni-tool, back to the Commander.

He exchanged looks with Miranda and Jacob, then back to the Commander as he lightly scratched the back of his head just for the sake of doing it. "Tell me about this 'Omega 4' Relay. What's so special about it?" Mathias tilted his head to the side slightly. It must have been named for Omega, a station mined out of the husk of an asteroid that served as a hideout for criminals, terrorists and organized crime. Mathias had never been to Omega before and wasn't exactly in a rush to visit since it had quite the reputation, and not a good one.

Miranda placed her arms behind her back and stood forward with confidence. "No one knows much about the Omega 4 Relay other than no ship entering it has ever returned, save for Collector vessels. We believe the Collectors' home world is located at the other end of the Relay." She moved to lean against the hotel suite's dresser.

Continuing for Miranda, Jacob furrowed his brow and placed his hand on his chin. "We believe the Collectors may be working for the Reapers since they're able to pass through the Omega 4 Relay and return, where other vessels cannot. Their ability to manipulate the Mass Relays would suggest a link to the Reapers, and considering the fact that they have been abducting human colonies for the past two years we have reason to be worried, and we intend to do something about it." As Jacob explained, Mathias leaned in closer, furrowed his brow more and stroked his chinstrap beard, which was mostly obscured by his tattooed face. He had no idea what a 'Reaper' was but the idea concerned him. The Collectors were abducting humans, for a race called the Reapers? Mathias' mind jumped to one word: war.

Mathias stared Jacob dead in the eye, keeping his hand on his chin. This was highly enthralling, especially since they were telling him about things that were normally kept behind closed doors. A need for adventure began to arise within Mathias' mind, as did a desire to solve the enigma of the Collectors. "The Collectors are working for the Reapers? Is that some kind of alien race?" He asked. It was truly unusual for Mathias to become this interested in other affairs. The mystery was highly thought-provoking – thousands of humans disappearing without a single trace, until now. Answering one question raised more questions.

"You're probably not going to like this." Shepard began, backing down and sitting on Mathias' bed. Jacob and Miranda watched, then turned their attention back to Mathias. "While we don't know much about the Reapers, what we do know is they are an extremely advanced race of bio-synthetic ships that wipe out all galactic civilization every fifty-thousand years. I encountered one a couple years back called Sovereign. It had attempted to usher in the next galactic extinction period, thanks in part to a rogue Spectre called Saren and his geth." Staring at him dead-eyed, Mathias took a quick, deep breath as he recalled the events that took place here, at the Citadel two years back. The images of the colossal warship, bigger than any to have ever existed were frightful indeed, especially as it wiped out human, turian and asari warships with little effort. "The scary part about all this is we have plenty of reason to believe the Reapers are on the move and we need to prepare. Our first step is to stop the Collectors. By doing so, we will have delivered a significant blow to the Reapers' ability to stop us."

Miranda continued, "The task ahead of us won't be an easy one and we will take all the help we can get. You don't have to accept this mission but we would strongly advise that you do. With you on our side, you will have greatly increased our chances of success." She pushed off the dresser and focused on Mathias very seriously. "Like Shepard already said, you must know there's a strong possibility that we will not return from this mission, and that means you too. You will need to be clear-headed and you must be at peace with it."

Mathias pressed his fist against his face as he leaned against the end table by the bed. He looked to the floor, searching his mind for his decision with his eyebrows furrowed. Besides his life, he had nothing to lose but if he survived the mission, he could have a lot to gain. Thinking about the adventure and new discoveries, he got up and turned to face the Commander. "It's a difficult decision, but..." Mathias paused for a second. If he survived this mission, he would forever have bragging rights – he would be a part of the team that brought down the Collectors and saved countless human lives, for now at least. "I will follow you on your mission to defeat the Collectors."

The Commander smiled and approached Mathias with his hand held out. Mathias took it and shook it firmly and professionally as he maintained eye contact with the Commander, with his face turning into a slight smile as well. "Welcome to the team, Mathias." Both let go and started out of the hotel room and out into the Zakera Ward's main plaza. Mathias walked alongside Commander Shepard to his left and Miranda to his right with his head held high. Working with a Spectre was certainly something to be proud of, but to be personally recognized by one considered above the law was more than an honour. Upon passing the C-Sec customs and taking a shuttle to where the Commander's ship was, Mathias got his first glimpse of the state-of-the-art frigate: a massive, highly magnificent ship with the words 'Normandy SR-2" intricately silk-screened onto the side of the main hull as well as one of its large thrusters. They got off the shuttle and entered the Normandy's airlock where they were decontaminated and Shepard instructed Jacob to show Mathias to where he would be staying. He could feel a slight vertigo as the ship took off into the vast emptiness of space. Modern force equalizers made sitting down and buckling up as unnecessary as some celebrities.

Mathias was given a bed in the crew's quarters on Deck 3, below the Combat Information Centre, then Jacob advised him to introduce himself to the ship's Yeoman, a red-headed woman named Kelly Chambers. Mathias met with her on the deck above his room, beside the ship's holographic galaxy map.

She turned around to face him and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mathias von Delacroix. I studied your profile extensively, and we're glad to have you aboard." Mathias simply nodded with a slight smile. He was somewhat excited yet unnerved at the same time; it was a great opportunity for Mathias, yet it could spell disaster at the same time. For this reason, Mathias decided to hold off on his 'shenanigans' until after the mission, holding back on trying to assert himself the way he often did with other strangers even though he was quite a bit taller than the Yeoman was. Oddly enough, some people would respond in a flirty manner when he imposed himself over them, attracted to tall and mysterious men.

"I am the Normandy's Yeoman, Kelly Chambers. As a part of my duties, I monitor the crew and can provide counselling if needed. I can also answer most of the questions you might have." She seemed pleasant enough, as she spoke in a more cheerful and polite tone when compared to Shepard, Jacob or Miranda who simply spoke in a matter-of-fact fashion. "If you have any worries, speak to me and I will do my best to allay them." She didn't seem surprised at how different Mathias really was from the rest of the crew. He thought it was because she was used to working with non-humans and had seen it all as well as having studied his profile like she was supposed to.

Mathias scanned the ship's Combat Information Centre, taking in the details and dark colour scheme. "Is there anything I should know, anyone I should know?" He asked, turning around once to scan the area behind himself, looking a bit innocently foolish.

"Besides the Commander and I, you can speak to our ship's medical professional, Dr. Karin Chakwas or our salarian scientist, Mordin Solus if you have any medical concerns. You will get to know the rest of the crew as we recruit them, as you work with them and when you're not on a side mission." She pointed to a door leading to the Normandy's Research Lab. "Come to think of it, Mordin would be interested in speaking to you regarding you and the seeker swarms now that you're aboard the Normandy." Mathias nodded and headed into the ship's Research Lab, where he saw the white-suited salarian busy at a terminal. He approached the scientist who did not part his attention from the terminal, but silently acknowledged his presence. Mathias noticed a strange looking insect inside a glass case – nasty little creature. The window behind Mordin provided a clear view of the stars and kinetic energy surrounding the Normandy while the lab's bright white lights made Mathias feel unpleasant, a natural reaction to the vampires' increased sensitivity to solar radiation even though the lights themselves didn't put off any radiation.

"Ah. You must be the vampire whose DNA I'm looking at." Continuing to type on his keyboard, Mordin spoke quickly without looking at Mathias, who could see the double helix on the holographic screen, a representation of Mathias' genetic makeup. "Interesting data. Will be able to use immune properties to provide countermeasure against seeker swarms." The salarian brought his complete attention to Mathias who stood patiently in front of the counter that held his computer terminal. Mordin began pacing back and forth. "Shepard says you were stung. How did you feel?"

Mathias rubbed the spot on his right shoulder where he was stung on Freedom's Progress. Due to the vampires' natural ability to heal quickly, it felt completely normal – no tenderness, no bump, no bruise. "It was a sharp pain. Almost immediately after, I felt somewhat tense for a few seconds but besides that I could move normally. The other humans froze almost immediately."

Mordin moved to the glass box containing the insect, and Mathias followed. "Yes, seekers use powerful nerve toxin and contain victims with a stasis field; completely paralyzed. Vampire immune system highly evolved; more so than any other species. Body able to efficiently counteract nerve toxin, regenerate damaged cells very quickly. Can mask people to make them indistinguishable to seekers but will also be able to immunize body against nerve toxin as second barrier. Exciting analysis, never studied vampirism before, but heard about the condition."

Moving in more closely to the box so he could study the insect in more detail, Mathias tapped the glass, and the insect attempted to sting it, but recoiled back and continued to float. "What is this... Thing?" He asked.

"A seeker. Collected from Freedom's Progress, trapped in a ventilation duct." Mordin studied the seeker insect more closely himself. "Dangerous to handle. It escapes, everyone paralyzed. Insect will be killed, paralysis treatment currently unknown. Fortunately, already obtained genetic material from seeker, can dispose of it." Though Mathias was able to keep up with the speed at which Mordin moved and spoke, he found himself rather confounded by it as he had never interacted with a salarian before, though it was completely normal for salarians who saw other species as slow and dull. Mordin moved back to his computer terminal and resumed looking over his data. "Countermeasure almost complete, meeting you pleasurable. Will be here if you need me." The salarian scientist dismissed Mathias, who left the Research Lab, returned to Deck 3 and sat at the large dining table in the mess hall. Only a couple of the table's numerous seats were occupied, and Mathias chose one farthest from the other people.

He sat and thought about what to do in his spare time. Normally, he would go and visit a municipality's local venues and hot spots, and when he wasn't doing that he'd play video games at home, either on his omni-tool, video game console or computer. He'd have liked to get a fancy virtual reality setup going, but never had the patience to do so. However, this was the Normandy: a top-grade military spacecraft, and they likely did not have any fancy recreational facilities set up besides the basics like a small room with a few exercise machines. Mathias scanned the room. He saw the chef's kitchen and main battery that occupied the centre of the room, the ship's main medical bay to his right and another unknown room to his left. It prompted curiosity.

When he entered the room, Mathias discovered that it was in fact Miranda Lawson's personal quarters. It appeared that she had been typing out a report on a computer terminal, sitting at a less-than-comfy office chair. She looked up at him. "Mathias. What can I do for you?" She was much more polite than she was previously, her tone and expression notably lighter. She paused her work on her terminal and sat back in her chair. "I understand from our encounter on Freedom's Progress that your opinion on Cerberus is a bit unfavourable. I don't blame you for holding such a negative connotation; however, we're not a malevolent group the way most people seem to think. If you have any questions, I will do my best to clarify."

There were a lot of questions, but Mathias decided to keep them minimal and important. Something's wrong if you've got to tell someone that you're not _actually_ malevolent. "Our team – the ones who will go directly after the Collectors. Besides me, who else will be going? What will we actually be doing?" He sat on a relatively soft chair in front of Miranda's desk.

"Besides myself, Jacob and Commander Shepard, there will be several talented others. We currently have you and Mordin Solus, but we have yet to recruit the others. For example, there's a powerful asari Justicar named Samara and a highly intelligent krogan warlord named Okeer who will also be a part of our team. As a matter of fact, the Commander has us on our way back to Omega so we can recruit someone named Archangel, as we have learned of his prowess with various rifles." Miranda took a sip from the glass of water next to her terminal and rested her crossed arms on the desk. "As for our plan of attack, we will have more details as we learn more about the Collectors and their homeworld. A number of ideas are being considered such as a powerful hydrogen bomb or a timed radiation blast to destroy the Collectors. If the idea that they're working with the Reapers is correct, we may need to rethink our strategy."

The chair leaned back slightly as Mathias pushed it and rested right leg on his left knee. He nodded and crunched his lips, diverting his eyes from Miranda's face to her computer terminal. "You said we're headed to Omega. When do we arrive?"

A synthesized female voice suddenly spoke up through the ship's intercom, catching Mathias off-guard. "We will be arriving shortly." Searching the ceiling, Mathias frowned. "I suppose you do not know who I am. The crew would like to refer to me as EDI; I am the artificial intelligence installed aboard the Normandy. You and Miranda will be assisting Commander Shepard in recruiting Archangel. As for you Mathias, you will be equipped with a top-of-the-line kinetic barrier to assist in damage protection. Please speak to Jacob in the Normandy's armoury, then meet Commander Shepard in the Command Information Centre."

"I guess we should go then." Mathias said as he got up and left Miranda's office. Both took the ship's elevator up to the Command Information Centre, and he watched as Miranda met with Shepard at the front of the room, near the airlock. Mathias entered the armoury and was immediately greeted by Jacob.

Jacob handed Mathias a set of armour as well as a pistol and a semi-automatic rifle. "This will be your defence and offence for the duration of our mission." He showed Mathias how to properly equip the armour, and soon Mathias was ready for battle with several layers of heavy protection against deadly artillery. "Your suit is equipped with a kinetic barrier which will provide you with an extra layer of defence before your armour starts taking damage. It will automatically regenerate itself when you're in cover. Your visor will also help you target, in addition to linking you with the Normandy and your squad mates." Mathias pulled the semi-automatic rifle and aimed it as he examined its intricate curves. He targeted several objects at the end of the room and imagined shooting them. Aiming would be no issue since his newly equipped visor showed him his accuracy, though it wasn't strictly necessary as he was highly attuned to his body. His father had shown him how to shoot a gun when he was younger and was amazed at how accurate he was. The first being Mathias was to kill would be in his father's honour. He nodded towards Jacob as he holstered the weapon on his back and went to meet with Shepard and Miranda at the airlock.

Upon stepping out of the Normandy and onto Omega, Mathias could already smell death, but it wasn't fresh – it smelled old, like it had been festering in the station's bowels for months. "Omega – what a pisshole. At least it keeps you on your toes. I feel like I need a shower after doing business here, in addition to normal decontamination." Miranda complained, eliciting a snicker from Mathias. Omega was indeed quite unappealing. Mathias nodded in agreement. "It's the ghetto of the galaxy." He smiled as he joked.

Mathias and Miranda followed Shepard as they entered a relatively busy plaza, an entrance to a loud nightclub called Afterlife. Mathias' face brightened up as they approached it and walked past the elephant-like elcor bouncer, entered the nightclub and were greeted by loud electronic music, colourful flashing lights, drinks, dance floors, lounges and asari exotic dancers. Mathias was in heaven; he hadn't had a chance to truly indulge himself in quite a while. Unlike the smell of the rest of Omega, the smell of the nightclub was sweet, as if they pumped in fruity and floury smells, possibly to serve as a way to keep paying customers in or even as an aphrodisiac. He looked around and examined the bar, his mouth watering upon seeing the sweet cocktail of exotic drinks available and was tempted to order a drink, but in good faith continued following Shepard to the back of the club where they went up a set of stairs and past a couple guards, and greeted an influential asari. She motioned for the three to sit at the lounge benches adjacent to her, then sat down herself with a sparkling red beverage.

"Thanks again for your help with the plague." The asari spoke with a metallic tinge of entitlement. "A plague is bad for business, not to mention what it does to your health." She crossed her legs and daintily sipped her reddish aperitif. Mathias' mind envied her ability to sit back, relax, drink and have others bow to her whim. She noticed Mathias looking at her and then turned to face Shepard, keeping her brow slightly tilted down. "I also hear you have a vampire with you. You continue to impress. I hear they have power like none other."

"I'm not here to impress, Aria. The vampire is an unexpected part of my team, but a part nonetheless. I'm here to recruit Archangel for my mission." Shepard leaned in closer to the asari, named Aria, to give her his undivided attention while Miranda and Mathias leaned back. The bulky armour Mathias wore prevented him from enjoying the comfort of the soft couch and he was sure that he was causing the leather seat damage, not that it mattered.

Aria examined Mathias for a few seconds more then turned her head forward, her cheek towards Shepard. "Archangel? I hear he's in a bit of trouble right now. Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse teamed up to take him down, but he keeps killing them. They're desperate enough to be recruiting freelancers just down there." She pointed to a door, just shy of one of the staircases leading to her lounge. "I don't know what he's done to piss them off badly enough to work together, but he's smart enough to stay out of my way." Mathias felt like he and Aria could get along as he was much the same way – no one crossed him.

Shepard nodded and stood back up, Miranda and Mathias also getting up. "Let's go apply to be 'freelancers'", Shepard said to his team slyly, cracking his knuckles.

"You have all the time in the galaxy, Shepard. Archangel? Not so much." Aria watched as the trio left her lounge and entered the recruiting station. The batarian attending the recruitment terminal called them forward. "Is this where we sign up?" Shepard asked.

"To fight Archangel? This is the place. Standard fee is five hundred credits each, and you'll be paid once the job is done. If you die, your friends won't collect your share. You'll need your own weapons and armour..." The batarian looked Shepard, Miranda and Mathias up and down. His blue suit of armour looked worn. "Looks like you've got that covered, and no, this doesn't make you a part of Blood Pack, Blue Suns or Eclipse. You are strictly freelancers. Are there any questions before you leave?"

Commander Shepard looked to Mathias, then Miranda, who both shook their heads. "Just tell us where we need to go."

The batarian recruiter finished typing his data into the terminal, then stood up straight to face the trio. "There's a Blue Suns shuttle just outside Afterlife waiting to take you to the location."

Shepard completed the fee of fifteen-hundred credits with his omni-tool, then motioned to Mathias and Miranda to follow him. As they left the recruiting station, Shepard noticed a distinctly young human male enter. "Is this the place to sign up so I can go after Archangel?" Shepard stopped for a minute. Mathias also noted how young he appeared. He was poorly armed with a cheap pistol and had no armour or shielding. If three large groups of heavily armed mercenaries were being massacred by Archangel, there was no way this kid would survive against him.

"This is the place." Shepard said, eyeing him down. The young man clearly couldn't fight, but if that's what he wanted to do, so be it. "However, this is no game." Shepard warned him regardless.

The young man turned back to face the squad. He stood his ground and tried to make himself seem as tough as he could, but all it did was amuse Mathias and draw serious glares from Shepard and Miranda. "I grew up on Omega! I know how to use a gun, I can fight!"

Mathias rolled his eyes. "Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. You're still a child, you won't survive. But, if you want to go out there to die, be my guest." Tauntingly, he warned the young man while the batarian recruiter watched and the other applicants stood by. Mathias' glowing red eyes and skull-tattooed face may have put the young man on edge, but he continued to stand his ground.

The kid drew his weapon. "I just spent fifty credits on this pistol and I plan on using it." He examined it before putting it away, and Shepard just shrugged. It was a cheap pistol and would probably explode on him after a few shots. The weapons issued by Cerberus were of superior quality.

"Don't say we didn't warn you. You have no idea what to expect, young one." Mathias sneered, pointing his gloved hand at the young man who just returned a glower and turned back to the batarian recruiter. The trio turned back and left the nightclub. They quickly found the Blue Suns driver as well as the shuttle intended to transport them to the location. They entered it with a couple other freelancers, and the batarian driver piloted the small shuttle.

"How old are you, really?" Miranda asked, looking at Mathias quizzically. She sat beside the Commander, across from Mathias. "The way you spoke to that young man back there... And the way he looked at you, was like you were just a playground buddy." Mathias just looked at her. "You're really forty years old?"

Mathias nodded. "I'm a lot older than I look. Just one product of who I am. Most people mistake me for being in my early twenties."

"Save the socialization for after the mission, unless it's related _to_ our mission. Right now, we have work to do." Commander Shepard scolded, but Mathias didn't even look at him, he just watched out the window and examined Omega.

Miranda nodded. "Understood, Commander."


	3. The Ruffian Archangel

It was finally their turn to head over the bridge Archangel had been using to gun down virtually every mercenary, freelancer and agent sent his way. Commander Shepard, Miranda and Mathias entered the clearing, as a few other freelancers rushed on ahead, ignoring the three as they were under the impression that they were also freelancers. Mathias remembered the young man they had encountered back at Afterlife, the one who clearly had no chance in a fight, Mathias watching as his hunch was proven right – he watched as the young man was gunned down by Archangel, who he could barely see one floor above hidden behind a concrete barrier. The young man didn't even get a chance to fire his weapon, which fell to the floor with a sharp reverberation as did his body. "Let's show these guys a thing or two." Shepard chided, arming himself with his primary pistol and signalling for Miranda and Mathias to do the same. When Mathias pulled his semi-automatic rifle he swore Archangel took aim at him, but when Mathias took out two of the three freelancers and Miranda took out the other, Archangel retreated back into cover when he realized they were there to help, not hinder him.

The bridge leading to the building Archangel hid in was bloodied from the previous bodies which had been removed, while the light from the sun holding Omega in orbit providing a golden lick to shine the way was pleasant aside from the rather unpleasant smell of the artificial atmosphere. Shepard, Miranda and Mathias cleared the bridge and entered the building, encountering Eclipse and Blood Pack warriors inside. "They're with Archangel!" One of the mercenaries shouted when he realized the 'freelancers' were taking aim at them, causing the mercenaries began exchanging fire with the trio but the mercs proved to be no challenge when they took them down in short order. Shepard ordered Mathias to rush ahead up the stairs and he did so, taking cover behind a support pillar when he realized there were two large krogran trying to prying open a sealed door, presumably leading to Archangel.

Mathias crouched down as he dodged bullets and fired at the krogan when there was a break in their assault. "I need help up here!" He yelled down the stairs and watched as Shepard and Miranda came running up. "Two angry krogan!" Mathias quickly ran to the other pillar to give room for Shepard and Miranda as they also sent heavy fire towards the krogan. Seeing that it wasn't enough due to how heavily armoured the red-suited krogan were, he used his biotic powers to send a high powered bolt of energy at the krogan which quickly disabled them, allowing Shepard to fire the fatal shots. Once the area was clear and silent, Archangel peered past the opening beside the door and saw the trio approaching it. He unsealed and opened it for them then returned to his original posting, scanning the area for any other mercenaries or freelancers.

As Shepard, Mathias and Miranda approached, Archangel crouched behind the concrete barrier, having noticed another lone Eclipse mercenary in their signature light yellow armour and trained his sniper on him. The Eclipse agent moved towards the building slowly, scanning the area for anything that might jump out at him. His lack of attention above presented Archangel with an opportunity and with a highly precise shot from his sniper he took out the mercenary. Shepard interrupted. "Archangel?"

The blue-suited ruffian stood up once all was silent again. Archangel was roughly as tall as Mathias and slightly taller than Shepard and Miranda. He took a seat on a planter, probably his first opportunity to rest in several hours. After leaning his sniper rifle against the planter, Archangel took his helmet off, revealing himself to be a turian with blue facial markings. Mathias thought he was smiling, or at least what a turian could make out as a smile, his mandibles spread and eyes somewhat narrowed. "Shepard. I thought you were dead."

Shepard emitted a half-smile and nodded in approval. "Garrus Vakarian. It's been a while." He stepped forward. "I hear you're in a bit of trouble right now. What are you doing here?" Clearly he had found trouble, considering the army of mercenaries Shepard, Miranda and Mathias had to weave through to get there and how they were all after one thing.

Garrus chuckled. "Target practice, the usual. I've been better, but it's good to see a friendly face. Frankly, it's hard to believe you're alive, considering the fact you got blown into space."

"I got lucky, but with a lot of strings attached. Cerberus rebuilt me, and in return I'm recruiting a team to defeat the Collectors."

There were a few seconds of silence, where Mathias sat and stared at the Commander. "Rebuilt? What do you mean, rebuilt?"

"I was dead, as dead as could be but Cerberus spent two years trying to bring me back." Commander Shepard said without even turning to face Mathias.

"You're going after the Collectors?" Garrus asked quizzically. Mathias began questioning the mission as it appeared the Collectors were widely feared since everyone who mentioned them appeared surprised or quizzical. Even Garrus, who had apparently been executing mercenaries left, right and centre seemed a little on edge in knowing his enemy. "And you're working with Cerberus?"

Shepard nodded. "The Collectors have abducted hundreds of thousands of humans, and I'm going to stop them."

Garrus mimicked a human smile again and huffed. "It'll be like the old times." The turian got up and engaged Shepard in a friendly handshake, one close friends would do, making Mathias envious as he had never had a close friendship with anyone before. Shepard and Garrus approached the balcony, looking over while leaving Mathias and Miranda behind, who stayed and watched the staircase to ensure no mercenaries were approaching. It was silent, at least for now.

The human and the turian surveyed the bridge the trio entered the building on, seeing that aside from a few bodies, it was clear of all potential intruders, but they kept armed and ready just in case. "How did you manage to piss off every major mercenary organization in the Terminus? They're frantic enough to have started hiring anyone with a gun to try and take you down." Commander Shepard was highly impressed at Garrus' competence while slightly amused that the mercenaries were completely unable to get to him. He clearly didn't joke around.

"It wasn't easy. I _really_ had to work for it." Garrus seemed somewhat exhausted, as he should be since he had been shooting mercenaries for several hours. "They must really hate me." He laughed. "It's undoubtedly saying something if they're teaming up to take me down. Normally they just hate each other." Mathias listened to their conversation as he hid behind one of the pillars facing the stairwell, making sure no one attempted to enter. It was eerily quiet and Mathias was uneasy because there was no way the fight was over yet, particularly because they still had to leave. Garrus continued, "I got fed up with all the bureaucratic garbage on the Citadel, so I thought I could do more on my own. You don't have to look hard for criminals on Omega, all you have to do is point and shoot." Like Mathias, Miranda hid behind the pillar adjacent to him and kept watch while she listened. Mathias laughed quietly to himself. Garrus wasn't joking when he said 'all he had to do to find criminals on Omega was point and shoot'.

Mathias silenced his breathing to focus more on the sounds he could hear. His vampirism provided him with hearing much sharper than ordinary humans and thanks to it he could hear footsteps in his direction, almost as if it was coming from a room underneath the staircase. He soon heard some noises he didn't recognize, then the footsteps running away. Cocking his gun, Mathias turned around to face Shepard and Garrus who were still overlooking the balcony and the bridge leading to the building they hid in. "We might need to get going soon." He yelled, prompting Miranda to look over the balcony on the other side of the bridge. "Let's see what they're up to." Garrus scanned the entrance to the bridge with his sniper as he and Shepard crouched down to hide behind the guardrail while Mathias stooped down and silently moved towards the staircase. He could still hear Garrus and Shepard speaking.

"I have a feeling they already know their infiltration team failed." Garrus handed his sniper rifle to Shepard who peered through the scope himself. "See their scouts?" Shepard aimed and Mathias heard him fire the weapon.

"More than just scouts, but one less now." Shepard handed the rifle back to Garrus as they and Miranda readied themselves for an intense fight. Mathias kept sneaking towards the staircase so he could investigate the sounds he heard earlier when a substantial detonation ensued below the deck and behind the stairwell, powerful enough to cause him to lose his balance and fall to the floor. He picked himself up and hid behind the concrete railing with his semi-automatic rifle held up and ready, biotics flaring. Over the sound of the building's alarms, Miranda yelled, "What the hell was that?"

Garrus reviewed a building map on his omni-tool. " Damn it! They've breached the lower level. We have to hold this location and wait for a break in their defences, it's the only way." He paused and shook his head. "They had to use their brains at some point. You'd better get down there, Shepard and close the shutters in the basement before they get through. I'll stay here and prevent any of them from crossing the bridge." Shepard nodded, and Mathias soon saw him and Miranda run past. While Miranda went down the stairs and took cover behind a pillar on the lower level, Shepard backed up and stopped in front of Mathias.

"You stay up here with Garrus and keep him alive. Go, now!" Mathias nodded and ran back to the upper balcony and hunched down close to Garrus while Shepard ran down the stairs to accompany Miranda as they entered the basement level. Peering over the concrete guardrail, Mathias watched a flood of yellow-suited Eclipse and red-suited Blood Pack mercenaries pour onto the bridge. He and Garrus both began to pick them off one by one while narrowly dodging their returning fire, but both soon came to realize they were coming in too quickly to easily finish off.

Mathias sent two of the approaching mercenaries flying with his biotics, but four more replaced them and fired back. "Go to the staircase and make sure they don't get up here!" Garrus yelled, persisting with his fire. Mathias got up and ran to the top of the staircase, descending it and taking cover behind a pillar and started eliminating mercenaries as they entered the building. There were too many of them and even with his powerful biotics and well-timed shots, Mathias had some trouble keeping them back. He put up a barrier in front of the building's entrance to temporarily prevent them from getting in, then ran quickly back to Garrus' vantage point to begin executing the mercenaries as they desperately tried to break his barrier with ammunition and grenades.

The sound of glass shattering filled the air. To Mathias' and Garrus' amazement, the mercenaries were grappling down the side of the building and entering through the window on their level. "Get your ass back here, Shepard! They're coming in through the window, we need you here now!" Mathias yelled through his visor's mouthpiece as he and Garrus each ducked behind pillars guarding them from the window. The barrier Mathias setup wouldn't hold much longer, but they had to focus their attention on the window as several mercenaries infiltrated the second floor. Mathias could hear the airship the mercenaries were using to reach them over the sound of his and Garrus' persistent fire.

Shepard and Miranda soon reappeared on the second level shortly after Mathias eliminated one turian and two human mercenaries. Mathias' biotic barrier broke soon thereafter and the mercenaries began to flood the building's first level and while Garrus and Mathias held the second floor window, Shepard and Miranda began executing the mercenaries attempting to come up the stairs.

"Krogan inbound!" Miranda yelled from the stairwell as a red-suited krogan pressed his way into Mathias' and Garrus' space. Without actively thinking, Mathias held the krogan in the air and restricted his breathing with his biotics then tossed him over the balcony, back towards the bridge. It was clear now that they were attempting to eliminate Garrus at any cost.

While the mercenaries closed in on the four, the sounds of gunshots were becoming fewer and fewer. Eventually, the mercenaries entering the building through the bridge stopped and only a few more stood in the way of the second floor window, who were quickly finished off by Garrus' precise shots. As the final few mercenaries were eliminated, silence took over with Miranda and Shepard returning to Mathias and Garrus, panting. Sweat dotted Mathias' brow, making the air feel cooler.

"Thanks for the help, Shepard. They barely got through to us, and your friend here even took out Garm and his Blood Pack." Garrus pointed to the krogan's body Mathias threw onto the bridge. The vampire stood by, proud with his head held high. The action was exhilarating, and the most exciting experience Mathias had in years. "Garm was one tough son of a bitch, him being gone is almost like a weight off my shoulders." Garrus was clearly relieved and his speech patterns showed it. He leaned against one of the pillars, shook his head and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"I take it you've fought with him before?" Commander Shepard asked, holstering his deadly pistol on his back.

Garrus held his weapon in both hands but let his guard down, thinking the worst had come to pass. "Yeah, we clashed before when I caught him alone without his gang." He got up and paced back and forth. "I still couldn't take him down, though. He's a freak of nature, nothing like the other krogan I've seen. I had to let him go when his vorcha showed up, but we got him this time."

Shepard surveyed the area, Miranda and Mathias taking a seat at one of the couches in the room. Shepard readied his weapon once more. "Only the Blue Suns are left. I think we can fight our way out now."

"I think so too. Tarak's got the toughest group, but it's nothing we haven't encountered before. We took out the Blood Pack and Eclipse mercs, so this should be no issue." Garrus nodded and examined the window the other mercenaries entered. Without warning, the airship the late batarian Sergeant Cathka had been working on turned up, armed and ready to fire. "Damn it! I thought I took that thing out already!" The four hurried into cover to avoid being filled with hot lasers.

Unusually calm, Shepard articulated from behind a concrete planter, "They didn't fix it completely. I made sure of that." Miranda remembered how Shepard overloaded Cathka's suit and killed him, mentally thanking him for doing so, to make the hovering airship easier to destroy.

"You're mine, Archangel. This ends now!" An angry voice jeered at them from the airship's loudspeaker. Using heavy weapons, the four began furiously firing at it. The airship flew up, disappearing while Blue Suns mercenaries began entering the building calling their attention to the first floor. Mathias ran towards the staircase and saw two human Blue Suns legionnaires attempting to ascend, massacring them before they had a chance to get halfway up. Mathias descended the stairs himself and blew two more mercenaries out the first floor window they entered from while he continued to shoot at a few others.

When the Blue Suns legionnaires stopped entering through the first floor and all was quiet again, Mathias quickly accompanied Shepard, Garrus and Miranda at the top floor again. He ducked in behind a pillar with Miranda just as Shepard and Garrus did, just in case the airship returned. After there had been nothing but silence, Garrus slowly left his cover and silently approached the window to check on the airship which abruptly reappeared and fired heavily at Garrus, who rushed in behind a concrete planter. "You think you can screw with the Blue Suns?" The pilot of the airship rhetorically shouted through the ship's loudspeaker. Before anyone else could do anything, Garrus peered out to get a shot off at the airship but was narrowly struck by a missile fired from it and knocked unconscious.

"Garrus!" Shepard and Miranda began attacking the airship with their heavy weapons again, but Mathias had something else in mind. He flared up his biotics and let the power build up for a few seconds before firing a devastating ball of blue energy at the ship, instantly destroying it in a massive explosion. Miranda looked at him with a highly surprised expression on her face. When the threat was gone, the trio rushed to Garrus' side as he lay gasping for breath on the floor, staining it with his blue blood. "We're getting you out of here, Garrus, just hold on!" Shepard activated his omni-tool to provide him with an application of medi-gel which would hopefully help him survive until he could be treated aboard the Normandy. "Radio Joker, make sure they're ready for us." Shepard ordered Miranda who got up and did as she had been told.

"They'd better hurry. It looks bad." Mathias examined the wound on Garrus' face.

In a matter of minutes, the Normandy appeared by the bridge with the front airlock ready for the group to enter. Shepard ordered Mathias to carry Garrus aboard due to his heightened strength and he rushed him to the Medical Bay then laid him on one of the beds, where the gray-haired Karin Chakwas, Mordin Solus and a few other trained professionals attended to the suffering turian's injuries. Shepard, who followed Mathias and Miranda to the Medical Bay, signalled for them to follow him. His face looked dissatisfied, and as Mathias followed him, he mentally prepared himself for the angry reprimand that was to follow as he felt himself starting to sweat and the temperature in his chest rising.

On the deck above in the Combat Information Centre, Shepard, Miranda and Mathias entered the Communications Room, hiding in between Jacob's armoury and Mordin's Research Lab. Miranda and Mathias stood between the door and the table, while Shepard walked to the other end of the table and leaned on it, looking down and exhaling heavily. Miranda crossed her arms, Mathias also leaned against the table and both waited for the Commander to speak.

Miranda finally broke the silence herself. "There wasn't much we could do to prevent what happened to Garrus. None of us could have accurately foreseen that."

Shepard shook his head, then looked up. "We could do better." His tone was unexpectedly not harsh, but rather calm and collected. "You're right, Miranda. There wasn't much we could do, but I still think we could have done better. Let's learn from this and better prepare ourselves for the future. We cannot let our mission fail." He stood up straight. "Crew dismissed."

Mathias and Miranda exited the Communications Room together and returned to Deck 3 below the Combat Information Centre. As Mathias went to sit down at one of the mess hall's tables, Miranda held up a hand to stop him and get his attention. "May I see you in my office?" Mathias darted his eyes around for a second, watched the doctors tend to Garrus through the windows in the Medical Bay then got up to follow her as she went into her personal quarters and sat down at her desk, motioning for him to take a seat as well. Mathias thought she was going to verbally lay into him herself.

Miranda rested her chin on her clasped hands, her elbows on her desk. "Besides your encounter with the Collectors on Freedom's Progress, I take it that was the most combat you've experienced. I'm interested in knowing what your feelings on what happened are." She looked him in his glowing red eyes, awaiting a response. She seemed very placid, almost cold.

Mathias looked to the ground and shook his head and took a few seconds to collect his response. "We failed, didn't we?" Feeling his mind starting to get the better of him, he sighed, shifting in his seat still wearing his armour. "What do you do with failure?"

"The Commander may sometimes come down hard on you but you should not take it personally. The mission ahead of us is a difficult one and we're all well aware that it could fail. The Commander isn't putting you down when he says you could do better, he simply wants you to improve upon yourself." She sat back in her chair. "Things happen, and while you can't control them you can prepare for them."

"What about Garrus?"

She smiled. "I strongly believe he will do well. His injuries appeared mostly superficial to me and even if they weren't the Normandy is equipped with a state-of-the-art Medical Bay and staffed by talented individuals. Believe me, they can fix a lot of what you might consider unsalvageable."

Mathias got up from his chair. "Thanks for the talk. I'll be ready for the next mission."

Her computer terminal beeped and she checked it. "I just received a note from the Commander. He would like to see you back in the Communications Room." Mathias simply nodded and took the elevator up one deck and left his suit in the armoury while Jacob began to examine it for any damage. Mathias then entered the Communications Room, seeing Commander Shepard still had not moved from his original spot behind the table. Mathias still fully expected to be yelled at.

He crossed his arms and stood across the table from the Commander. "You wanted to see me?" He made sure to show no fear or anger.

Shepard nodded, and approached him to speak to him face to face. "I wanted to tell you how impressed I was back on Omega. I have no regrets about having you a part of my team." Mathias' face lit up as the burning sensation in his chest began to calm down. "The reason I brought you along for this mission was so I could evaluate your performance. I already had high expectations for you but I think you went beyond what I expected."

Flattered, Mathias could feel his face reddening though the Commander would not have noticed due to his face being completely tattooed. "I… I… Wow. Thank you." He found himself somewhat lost for words. "I'm… I'm flattered, really." Shepard's praise came as a surprise to Mathias, who thought it was the first time someone besides his father truly thought highly of him. Part of the reason Mathias was so aggressive and asocial was because people often considered him to be an outcast and often treated him as such, which is why he found it entertaining to be constantly intimidating to others. He knew Shepard was being sincere.

"Get some rest, you'll need it." Shepard patted Mathias on the shoulder twice and let him go. Indeed, Mathias was well done out and could use a good hibernation so he headed to his assigned bed in the Crew's Quarters and tucked himself into the surprisingly comfortable bed. The room was quiet as two other Normandy staff members rested in their beds, and the bunk above his bed provided some darkness before the lights automatically dimmed themselves. He closed his eyes and drifted off.

Mathias' unconscious mind drifted back fifteen years ago. He had just observed his twenty-fifth year in existence and was enjoying a quiet, lonely walk along the city's riverside path. The sound of traffic was minimal and the air was fresh. The city's bright neon lights drowned out the moonlight and made the stars practically invisible, but Mathias preferred developed civilization anyways. He walked leisurely down the path with his hands in his pockets when the unimaginable happened.

The One he had clashed with a few years prior had somehow managed to encounter Mathias on his quiet night walk, and stopped him for a chat. "How have you been?" The Jock asked, eliciting shock and awe from Mathias who was a little more than displeased with the one he encountered. He shoved the Jock back and told him that he didn't want to see him ever again.

The Jock persisted, throwing apologies everywhere, so many in fact that Mathias thought they would soon materialize and become physical objects. The Jock's appearance had not changed much since high school; his dark brown hair still neatly dressed up, eyes bluer than a sunlit sky and body still in peak physical condition, though it didn't compare to Mathias' now-chiseled form. He offered Mathias dinner at a fine restaurant, drinks at a fancy bar, a night out at a comedy club, but Mathias rejected each and every offer with a firm "No". The Jock looked to the ground disappointed. Mathias had turned around to go back to where he came from when the Jock firmly grabbed his shoulder. Angrily, Mathias shouted, "What do you want now?" and turned around.

The Jock suddenly planted a long kiss on Mathias' lips. He pushed the Jock away, looking at him stunned. His torture at the hands of the Jock made sense now.

Mathias' eyes opened fast. The Crew's Quarters were now almost totally dark and most of the beds occupied. The ship was also notably more silent. Referring to his omni-tool, it was now three forty-six in the morning in his hometown and that he had been asleep for about seven hours. He assumed that almost everyone was in bed at the moment, but got up regardless and entered the ship's mess hall and began searching the pantries for a snack. Beside the cupboard he was rummaging through, a small holographic orb appeared and began to hover. It was EDI, probably to remind him that Mess Sergeant Gardner wouldn't appreciate latenight grazing.

"You missed last night's dinner after you came back from your mission on Omega." Nah, really? "There is leftover garden vegetable soup in the refrigerator." Mathias looked at the large industrial refrigerator, closing the cupboard and searching through the icebox instead. He found a large pot containing a sizable portion of the soup EDI referred him to and served it to himself, taking it with a bottle of water to the table. He could see Doctor Chakwas sleeping on a cot in the Medical Bay and noticed that the door to Miranda's quarters was locked. Though cold, the soup was still very good.

Mathias inhaled the soup. He was starving, having not eaten in the past several hours and the soup hit the spot. He put down his spoon in the empty bowl. "Do we get to go somewhere to have fun and unwind? I'm bored as all hell." The Normandy seemed relatively clear of any leisurely activities.

EDI's holographic orb appeared again near the table. "Unfortunately, not much vacation time will be allowed for the duration of the mission against the Collectors. During the course of the mission, Commander Shepard may allow for some rest and relaxation off the Normandy but all crew members must remain on duty." Mathias frowned at the orb. "We can still provide entertainment for the crew." A holographic television projected itself in front of him. It was showing a rather uninteresting documentary exploring salarian culture, right now talking about various ancient clothing styles. "You may also pair your omni-tool with the television to play any games you may have installed."

As Mathias began pairing his omni-tool with the television, Garrus Vakarian approached the table from the ship's forward battery in between Miranda's quarters and the Medical Bay, sitting at the table across from Mathias who acknowledged him once he finished pairing his omni-tool. He shut down the TV to face the turian vigilante.

Examining the turian's scars, Mathias leaned in, resting his upper body on his elbows and lowering his brow. "You're up early."

"Turians don't sleep for long periods of time like you humans do. You're the one who's up early." Garrus began unwrapping a snack he had brought with him.

"I went to bed early, just after we got back from Omega. You took a pretty heavy hit back there, I'm surprised you're up and about already." He took a long, refreshing drink from the bottle of water, then sat back in the chair and surveyed the area. With so few entertainment options, this was going to be a long mission.

Garrus felt along his damaged mandible, then he examined his damaged blue armour. "The more battle scars, the better. I don't think it was as bad as it looked." Mathias laughed. Scars were a good bit of character definition, but the only one he had was on his lower abdomen and thus rarely visible. The way Mathias dressed and styled himself, people often assumed he was a violent character and while he was aggressive he wasn't particularly violent, unless of course he had a 'task' at hand. "Thanks again for your help. I didn't even have to fire at Garm once."

"The krogan's name was Garm? You said you fought him once, right?"

Garrus began to eat the snack bar; 'Chocolate Chew'. The wrapper proudly proclaimed that it was 'a human favourite, made just for turians'. "I had been chasing that bastard for a while. Getting rid of him would have made life easier on Omega because he wouldn't be around to shake down innocent civilians. I caught him by himself in one of Omega's notorious back alleys and I saw my opportunity. I tried taking him down, but he regenerated really quickly. I've never seen a krogan or even a vorcha regenerate that fast."

A dark smile filled Mathias' face. "Then I come along and kill him in just a few seconds."

Garrus nodded in approval. "I might be good, but I'll take all the help I can get. Getting Garm out of the picture made my job that much easier." He stopped and paused for a second as he checked something on his omni-tool, then looked back at Mathias. "You're not like the other humans I've met."

Mathias sarcastically raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side a little bit, crunching his lips. "How so?"

"I've never seen a human biotic almost instantly kill a krogan before. I've also never seen a biotic destroy an airship in one hit. That was pretty impressive." Garrus recounted his time as a C-Sec officer on the Citadel. There were a number of occasions where angry biotics had attacked him with their power but they were rarely difficult to stop. Mathias on the other hand, was an entirely new breed of biotic and Garrus thought of what might have happened if it were Mathias who he had to stop. He honestly didn't think he could.

Crossing his arms, Mathias stared Garrus in the eye. "Is that all?" He was visibly annoyed and he let Garrus know with his body language, ignoring his previous compliment.

A beep emitted from Garrus' omni-tool, prompting him to check it. "I'd better get back. Calibrations aren't going to do themselves." He got up and entered the ship's forward battery with the doors closing behind him, leaving Mathias completely by himself in the mess hall. Nothing but silence. He reactivated the holographic television and loaded up a simple but engaging game on his omni-tool, a mindless infinite running game.

Several hours and many high scores later, the Normandy was buzzing with life again, most of the crew having gotten up. Mess Sergeant Gardner was at the kitchen, preparing a breakfast for the majority of the crew that was up, and this time Miranda came out to the mess hall table, as did Commander Shepard and Jacob. While they waited for Mess Sergeant Gardner's concoction, they all sat around and talked.

Commander Shepard, sitting directly across Mathias and beside Miranda and Jacob, activated his omni-tool. "In a short amount of time, we'll have a new recruit. We will be leaving for Purgatory, a maximum security starship to recruit a powerful and dangerous convict called Jack." He looked at Mathias, mentally comparing him to the convict. "Mathias, you're coming with us, as is Miranda. If the need to overpower Jack arises, I will need the help of both of you."

Shaking his head and laughing, Mathias looked to the ceiling then back to the Commander, maintaining a sarcastic smile and crossing his arms. "A powerful _and_ dangerous convict? You've already got one, save for the convict part. We don't need another." Referring to himself, his smile faded when Shepard simply stared at him coldly without flinching.

"This is a maximum security facility. I want you to be extra vigilant while we're there." Referring to Mathias specifically, Shepard continued, "And I don't want any funny business. When we're finished eating here, I want you both to get ready then meet me in the Shuttle Bay on Deck Five." Mess Sergeant Gardner and a couple others began serving plates of hot pancakes at both of the mess hall's tables.

Gardner's powerful voice startled most of the patrons in the mess hall. "Maybe you should take an extra-heavy firearm and shield, just in case. Blow up a few criminals while you're there."

Jacob sat up quickly. "That reminds me. I have installed upgraded shields on all of your suits. They will take more damage before failing and they can regenerate faster. Also, you will now be able to carry more heatsinks for your weapons."

Everyone began to eat their somewhat cheap-tasting pancakes while discussing various matters, while Mathias simply remained silent, not speaking to anyone as he picked at the pancakes, eating bits and pieces of it and being the last one to finish up. He felt awkward, being the only one there not having someone to openly converse with in a friendly manner. To him, it was all business.

Once finished, he hurried to Jacob's armoury where he found his charcoal suit of heavy armour and suited up then rushed down to the Shuttle Bay, a large open room containing three shuttles and other heavy equipment. While Shepard waited outside one of the shuttles, he allowed Mathias, Miranda and the pilot to get in before entering the shuttle himself. The door sealed itself, the shuttle bay vacuumed the air into the rest of the Normandy and a large door at the back of the room opened, allowing the shuttle to depart the magnificent Normandy. Mathias watched the distant stars pass by in the dark void of space while they waited for their arrival at the maximum security prison.


	4. A Psychotic Convict

The massive starship with many arms extending from a central core came into view as the minuscule shuttle approached one of the many secure docking bays, only to find it would not accommodate a small shuttle. Joker's voice suddenly came over the intercom. "Change of plans, Commander. We just discovered Purgatory does not have a proper bay for a small shuttle. Return the Normandy and we'll go in that way." Shepard huffed loudly, rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath without Mathias or Miranda acknowledging. The shuttle turned around and entered the closely approaching Normandy and docked inside. The impatient three went up to the Normandy's airlock and waited for the decontamination process to complete, entering the Purgatory super-max prison when the doors opened.

Walking down the entrance corridor, they were greeted by three armed guards in familiar colours – Blue Suns. Unlike the last bunch they had fought on Omega, these mercenaries appeared rather friendly. Their lack of hostility aroused some suspicion, especially considering how Shepard, Miranda, Mathias and Garrus had massacred many Blue Suns mercenaries the day prior. Shepard hoped to go in and leave with Jack in a short amount of time. Similarly, Mathias and Miranda expected an easy encounter but as Shepard had suggested, they were ready just in case.

The mercenary closest to them was a turian wearing a helmet similar to what Garrus was wearing when he was discovered to be Archangel. He held a semi-automatic rifle similar to Mathias' weapon of choice. "Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard. We are preparing your package and you can leave shortly, after the funds from Cerberus finally come through. In the meantime, we would ask that you leave all your weapons here."

Pulling his semi-automatic rifle and aiming it fast with one hand at the mercenary, Mathias readied his biotics and prepared to lift the mercenary into the air with the other hand. Quickly after, Miranda and Shepard also aimed their weapons at the other two accompanying mercenaries, who prepared to return fire and pointed their guns at the squad. "I can leave you with one bullet. Where do you want it?" Shepard remained coldly collected as he aimed rather casually. Mathias smiled and snickered fiendishly.

Another turian came out from a door behind the mercenaries. He lacked the helmet the others were wearing, but also lacked the face paints common among the turians. His mannerism appeared unusually casual. "Enough!" He yelled. "Everyone, stand down!" Mathias squinted his eyes at the turian and emitted a low, throaty growl that took Shepard and Miranda by complete surprise. 'I'm going to kill you first', he thought. Mathias did not like the turian one bit, who approached the group. "Commander, my name is Warden Kuril, I run this facility. This is just a standard procedure. We'll return your weapons on your way out."

Shepard stood his ground and stepped one foot forward to assert his authority. "My gun stays with me. End of story." Warden Kuril and Shepard engaged in sort of a staring contest, to see who would recoil first. Miranda shook her head at the mercenaries.

Sighing, Warden Kuril relented. "Our facility is more than capable of handling three armed guests. Let them proceed." The three mercenaries moved to the side, the Warden quickly turned his head, signalling for them to follow. "Come with me to outprocessing." They entered the primary facility where the walls were windowed, allowing them to see through into the prison's cell blocks. The ship was cool and brightly illuminated, making Mathias feel rather uncomfortable. "We're taking Jack out of cryogenic hibernation. You'll be on your way once the Cerberus funds are cleared."

Despite the prison's unsurprisingly heavy security and the numerous guards protecting the hallway, the ship had an unusually eerie feeling about it. Miranda watched two prisoners mingle in a small courtyard, visible a few floors down from the guarded corridor. They looked like they were getting into an altercation, and the group watched as two stasis fields enveloped and forcefully separated them.

"Cell Block 2." Kuril turned to face them for a second then turned back around, presumably as a show of status. Mathias wanted to see the warden boast himself when he had him pinned to the floor. "As you can see, we keep tight control over the population." Outside the corridor, a large mechanical arm relocated a small prison cube. "Each of the cells is a self-contained, modular unit. I've blown a few into space to set an example. The prison consists of 30 blocks identical to this one. There are thousands of criminals here, and we can put the whole station in lockdown in just a few seconds. _Nothing_ goes wrong here." The group stopped and Kuril turned to face them.

"I'm curious to know more about this 'Jack'." Mathias asked, continuing to examine the prison. The idea of being locked up for the rest of one's life was extremely unappealing and considering the curse of his own immortality, Mathias thought it was a tough punishment indeed. Jack intrigued him, as he was powerful enough to force the Warden to keep him cryogenically frozen.

The Warden appeared to shudder at the thought. "Jack?" He looked back and forth, as if to see if someone was listening in on him. "Cerberus didn't tell you? Jack is the... Angriest and meanest piece of work I've ever encountered. She's dangerous, very powerful and borderline psychotic. Even with this facility, I'd hate to get on her bad side, but I already fear that it's too late for that." Wait... She?

"Let's get on with this." Shepard started walking forward again, Mathias and Miranda following and Kuril turning back around.

"I know this is a highly secure ship, but there must have been escape attempts." Miranda asked.

The group turned a corner and Warden Kuril continued. "We're in space and they have nowhere to go. They know that. Regardless, there have been a few occasions where a prisoner attempted to take over one of the ships that brings in dozens of new prisoners, and each time we've had to shoot them down. It's a huge waste of money, so we exercise meticulous caution. Fortunately, such events are very rare." Mathias imagined what that might look like. "We have many ways to keep the population in check."

Warden Kuril went on ahead. "I'm going to confirm the Cerberus funds have cleared. Outprocessing is just down the hall, past the interrogation rooms. It's not hard to miss." He stopped for a second. "I'll catch up with you later, Shepard." He sounded somewhat menacing just as he disappeared behind a door elsewhere in the hallway. Shepard looked displeased with him. "Let's go," Shepard started towards the outprocessing room with Miranda and Mathias in tow.

They came across a guard watching over a glass interrogation room. Inside, a turian guard was laying into a human prisoner with the butt-end of his gun. The turian was hitting the human hard enough for each blow to be audible to the three, who stopped and watched on. Mathias shook his head as he watched the prisoner suffer. "I hope that whatever they're torturing him over they know he's lying about it."

Miranda furrowed her brow slightly. "What do you mean? Interrogation is sometimes necessary but this is just pointless cruelty." Mathias looked at her and curled his lips.

Looking back at the prisoner, he continued, "Torture is only useful if you know they're lying. I doubt they actually know that. If he isn't guilty of whatever they've accused him of, he'll just invent a story to make them stop. They won't actually get what they want."

"You have to be well-trained to know right off the bat whether or not someone is lying." Miranda referred to her previous training and education, one of the reasons she was chosen by the Illusive Man.

Mathias shook his head and closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. "I can see past someone's lies and deception. It's all in their subtlety, the way they speak, their body temperature and heart rate. I'm no outstanding citizen myself, but this is crossing the line. Not even I would go this far." Miranda frowned.

"So you're not above torturing someone for information?" She crossed her arms and supported the majority of her weight on one of her legs as Shepard listened carefully.

"Like I said, only if they're lying and believe me, I'll know if they are or not. This is a bit extreme, even for me. I get the information I need quickly, I don't need to lay into someone like that, though I can get angry enough to do it." Mathias observed as Shepard approached the guard on watch.

The turian guard turned his head to face Shepard. His blue helmet's lights appeared to be fading. "Is there... Something I can do for you?" He asked politely.

"Is this really necessary?" Shepard asked, crossing his arms. "There's no reason to beat a prisoner senseless when they can't fight back." It was somewhat miraculous the prisoner didn't appear to have broken bones... At least not yet, but he was quite apparently bruised, cut and bleeding.

The guard laughed rather maniacally, even more so than what Mathias was used to himself. The guard showed no sympathy, empathy or mercy. "Compared to his victims? This is a massage." The guard turned back to the interrogation room.

"Sitting in a cell to think about his past is all the punishment he needs. This degrades you just as much as it does him." Shepard stared the guard down as Mathias moved to lean against the wall. Miranda also positioned herself to provide Shepard with a greater ability to emotionally affect the guard. "How would others think when you tell them you torture prisoners for a living?"

"We have our orders..."

"What? You're not important enough to make your own decisions?"

The guard sighed and stretched his neck and arms. "I admit..." He paused. "I do get tired of this. Does this really help? Does it really get us what we want?" The guard shrugged.

"If he hasn't admitted to anything by now, he won't admit to it. There's no use in continuing to beat him." Mathias chimed in, looking to the guard then back to the torturer and his victim. "If it turns out he's not lying, he'll admit to anything to stop the pain."

"Stop this. For your own sake." Shepard ordered. Hesitantly, the guard nodded and called off the beating. He watched as the prisoner recoiled in the corner, still shaking from the pain. "We'd better get going."

Moving along, a prisoner from another interrogation room called their attention. Shepard approached. "Hey! If you're buying prisoners, can you buy me?" Mathias frowned and looked at Shepard, then to the prisoner. "Man, I don't care what you do with me or where you take me, it's gotta be better than this."

"We're here for Jack." Miranda said. Immediately the prisoner's expression changed to one more startled.

"Jack? Forget I said anything, I don't want to go anywhere with Jack!" The crew exchanged looks between each other. "Jack's the worst trouble you would ever see. She's what happens when you take crazy, biotics and drugs then mix them all together."

Mathias stood forward. "I thought this was a prison, not some bloody slave market."

The prisoner appeared shy. "Sometimes people buy convicts so they can do some punishing of their own, if you know what I mean." Miranda and Mathias exchanged disgusted looks. "The Warden will sell us to the highest bidder. I'm just waiting for someone to take me out of here."

"The Warden must be selling off some prisoners to support the station." Miranda suggested. "Or, keeping the profits for himself."

"What are you in for?" Shepard asked and watched as the prisoner looked down, almost embarrassed. Whatever he did, he had a reason to be embarrassed.

The prisoner started pacing in his cell. "I killed a few people. Just twenty, though. Maybe more. I also blew up a habitat, but that's nothing compared to most of the guys in here. Some of them are big time terrorists or mobsters."

They turned and left for the outprocessing room and entered, leaving the prisoner feeling dejected. It was a large open room with a few desks and a high ceiling. "Just go through that door at the end of the room." One of the prison's staff members directed as he entered data at his terminal. Just as the three were about to go through the door, they realized it was not an office, but instead a prison cell. Warden Kuril came over the intercom, proving Mathias' instincts correct. He readied his weapon before the Warden could even express his plot.

"Forgive me Shepard, but you're more valuable to me as a prisoner than a customer." Even though the Warden's actions were now clearly malevolent, he sounded somewhat disappointed. Shepard, Miranda and Mathias didn't appear worried, but were now agitated. "Drop your weapons and proceed to the waiting cell. We aren't going to hurt you."

"Go to hell! Better yet, I'll send you there myself!" Shepard taunted at the intercom. He sent a message to the Normandy to alert them of what happened and the three took cover behind the desks as Blue Suns mercenaries previously guarding the station now began flooding in firing at the three.

"Activate all security systems! Take Shepard alive!"

The building's alarm systems began to sound and more Blue Suns mercenaries began to fire at them. Using his powerful biotics, Mathias immediately eliminated four with one energy pulse directed for the ground. As their bodies hit the floor, Miranda overloaded the shields of two, making them vulnerable. Shepard jumped over a desk and ducked behind another closer to the mercenaries and executed them in seconds with two well-trained shots from his pistol.

"We need to get Jack!" Shepard yelled as they entered the hallway. Taking cover behind pillars, two attack dog-like robotic mechs quickly approached, but Mathias simply overloaded their systems with an electrical explosion powerful enough to kill the two approaching batarian mercenaries. Miranda overloaded the shields of another approaching legionnaire and fired one fatal shot before the three proceeded to a door that lead to a control room. Shepard killed the technician before he could even get a shot off at them and they approached a control panel that was directly in front of a window overlooking a containment chamber. It was the cryogenic chamber that contained the convict – Jack. They would have to release her.

"If we hack that control panel, every door on this cell block will open." Miranda suggested. "It will be complete chaos."

Mathias examined the control panel and the room in front of them. It probably wouldn't hurt to have to fight through the angry prisoners but it was additional work and even though he didn't want it he knew it would have to be done. "I don't see any other way of releasing Jack." At least it might be entertaining. He huffed.

Pressing on the control panel, Shepard took a deep breath. "I'm going to do it. Be ready." A warning alarm sounded and he watched as a mechanical arm twisted the chamber to unlock it then lifted it out. Three large humanoid mechs readied themselves as the frozen and constrained Jack came into view. She was bald, but covered from head to toe in tattoos. Her appearance was very intimidating, much like Mathias.

"That's Jack?" Surprised, Miranda approached the glass. "Her appearance isn't exactly what her reputation would suggest." Indeed, Jack had a rather feminine form accented by the tattoos and minimalistic clothing.

There were a few moments of silence before Jack's eyes suddenly opened and she angrily broke out of her shackles. Her strength truly was immense, as she broke through the metal restraints with little effort. Mathias thought he was still stronger and he probably was, but she intrigued him. Jack shook her head to clear herself of any soreness but when she looked up the three forceful mechs were quickly closing in. Shepard feared they would kill her, but the three were blown away when Jack fired up her biotics and destroyed all three mechs in a matter of seconds, then ran off into the prison.

"Hah! I like her!" Mathias laughed as the three readied their weapons again and exited the room, going down to the containment cell Jack was previously held in. They examined the three twisted and sparking corpses of the mechs then proceeded through a hole in the wall, created by Jack. A feminine synthesized voice warned of impending danger in the prison as shots, yelling and banging could be heard off in the distance.

"It sounds like heavy fighting. We need to hurry." Miranda helped Shepard force a door open while Mathias, armed and ready pressed through to eliminate any potential threats that may have been hiding behind. They rushed through service shafts in the hopes that they would find Jack before the situation inevitably got worse, keeping their weapons up.

"All guards! Restore order immediately! The use of lethal force is authorized, but don't kill Jack!" The Warden, clearly panicked, ordered over the intercom. He was probably hiding in the safety of his own personal quarters. It annoyed Mathias. "Son of a bitch is hiding. Couldn't be bothered to come and face the problem on his own." He snidely complained to Shepard and Miranda as they entered a large congregation room below the hallways they were previously in.

"Life support lost in Sectors Seven, Nine and Eleven. There are no survivors." The same feminine synthesized voice announced over the intercom as rioting became apparent in the congregation room. The three saw prisoners and guards taking shots at each other and had to pick off both groups as both fired at them. Lights had turned red in accordance to the prison's alarm and fires had broken out all over the room. Automated sprinkler systems didn't appear to be functional and a sense of urgency filled the room as life support systems were at risk of failing.

The squad hid in behind decorative pillars as they avoided fire from mostly the Blue Suns guards. Like on Omega, they proved to be little challenge. The shields of five mercenaries were quickly overloaded by Mathias and Miranda while they quickly took them down with their rifles. Moving forward, they killed several more mercenaries and ducked into another service tunnel when Miranda suddenly cried out, "No shields!" The three continued through the tunnel and into the next congregation room, quickly picking up useful items along the way.

There were numerous bodies on the floor and the number continued to rise. The guards quickly eliminated the escaped prisoners then turned their attention the Shepard, Miranda and Mathias who hid in behind a destroyed mechanical arm while they picked off the assaulting guards. The sound of heavy mechanical stomping startled the three, but Mathias temporarily jumped out of cover and with a powerful biotic charge he instantly destroyed the large mech but not before it sent off a missile, hitting Mathias and sending him flying several metres, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. "Mathias!" Shepard yelled, running out and pulling him into cover. While Shepard continued firing at the other mercenaries, Miranda prepared an application of medi-gel with her omni-tool, but before she could use it on Mathias, he simply sat up and shook of the explosion. "Are you alright?" She asked, helping him to his feet. He began firing at the mercenaries again, quickly executing four in short order. "They hit like bitches!" Clearly uninjured, Mathias gloated with a daring smile on his face. He jumped out and into cover behind another pillar and executed an approaching human Blue Suns legionnaire.

"Lockdown in Blocks Four, Seven and Eight! Don't let any prisoners stand in your way!" The three moved through the congregation room quickly. A guard fired at the three, but was finished off by a well-placed shot from Shepard to an explosive canister nearby. They entered another hole blown in the wall and into another service tunnel. Blood splattered the walls, as two bodies lay on the ground. Disregarding them, the three moved on to the next congregation room. There were fewer guards in this room, no living prisoners and still no sign of Jack. "Capture Jack at any cost!" The Warden was sounding desperate.

Seeing an approaching mech like the one that hit Mathias, Shepard and Miranda ran and took cover behind a bridge going over the congregation room's trench. Mathias surrounded himself with a powerful shield and charged his biotics up, finally destroying the mech with a powerful shockwave blast. He disabled his shield, shooting two mercenaries in the process and the three moved to the other end of the room, executing any remaining Blue Suns legionnaires.

Their immediate surroundings were quiet aside from the alarms, but off in the distance explosions, screaming and shooting could still be heard. They saw the Warden, standing high up on a ledge, fully shielded and firing his large sniper rifle at another prisoner, killing him with a large blood splatter. As the group quickly approached and took cover behind a heavy crate, he fired an intimidation shot at them. "You're valuable, Shepard. I could have sold you and lived like a king, but you're too much trouble. At least I can still recapture Jack!" Mathias could feel his blood boiling. Warden Kuril deserved to die, and he fully intended to kill him. The Warden fired off more intimidation shots. "You are no match for my ship!"

Shepard prepared his weapon to fire incendiary shots. "That's not going to happen! You're a dickless slave trader and I don't have time for it!" He yelled from behind the crate. He nodded towards Miranda and Mathias, signalling them to attempt to take him out.

Kuril growled loudly. "This is for the good of the galaxy!" A stasis field suddenly enveloped Kuril and shielded him. The shield was clearly being produced by three pillars and Shepard signalled for Mathias and Miranda to each take one. Mathias moved up a ramp and overloaded the pillar but was forced to hide in behind more crates when several legionnaires entered and started firing at him. He was on his own as Miranda and Shepard were off elsewhere in the large open room. "Let's give you a little something extra." He quietly taunted them to himself, charging his biotics while the mercenaries slowly threatened his hiding spot. When they finally saw him, he suddenly unleashed a massive shockwave from his position, darkening the whole room, nearly vaporizing the mercenaries and heavily damaging Warden Kuril's shield. He got up and began targeting the shield itself, but it finally failed on its own, having taken too much damage from his assault. Seeing that his time was up, Kuril began relentlessly firing at Mathias but was blindsided by Miranda who disabled his shields, allowing Mathias to use his biotics to slowly levitate him closer while preventing him from resisting. Shepard and Miranda both approached slowly with their weapons trained on the Warden, while Mathias held him up. "Let me go!" He yelled as he attempted to struggle.

Mathias looked at Shepard. The room was now devoid of any fire. "What do you say we do? Give him the Bob Barker treatment, neuter him right here?" Joking, he smiled maniacally.

Shepard pointed his pistol at Kuril's head. "Say good night, my friend." He fired one shot into the Warden's forehead and watched as his now lifeless body hung limp in the air, Mathias then dropping it to the ground, looking at it with little apparent emotion.

"Come on, we need to find Jack." Miranda said, motioning with her pistol then running to another hole in the wall. Mathias spat on Warden Kuril's lifeless body then followed Shepard and Miranda into the smashed wall, through a service hallway and up several sets of steps, finally entering the corridor they came in. About one hundred metres away, they saw Jack blast through the door the squad was previously ordered to relinquish their weapons at and kill the three guards in one biotic strike, smashing one against the wall and breaking his back. She then stopped and started yelling and angrily pacing back and forth upon noticing the Normandy SR-2 docked outside. Shepard, Miranda and Mathias approached her, shooting a batarian mercenary quickly approaching her from behind.

"What the hell do you want?" Jack yelled, keeping her distance and a wide stance. She was furious, but the reason behind it was unknown.

"I'm Commander Shepard. This is Miranda and this is Mathias. We're here to get you off this ship." Mathias crossed his arms and breathed heavily. He looked at the dent in the wall from when Jack threw the mercenary into the wall. His eyes followed it down to where the dead body was.

Jack frowned and stared Shepard down. She paced back and forth. "You're Cerberus. There's no way in hell I'm going anywhere with you." Her refusal caused Shepard to elicit a frown and to cross his arms.

"I'm offering to be your friend. You don't want to be my enemy." Shepard taunted as Mathias powerfully flared up his biotics, enough to cause the ground to tremor but it didn't seem to faze Jack. Mathias wanted to affirm his superiority.

Snarling, Jack went to look out the window and examine the Cerberus vessel. "Do you expect me to go anywhere with you?" She turned back to face Shepard. "You show up in a Cerberus ship, you think I'm stupid or something?"

Shepard rolled his eyes while Mathias and Miranda silently stood by. "This facility is going down in flames. If you stay, your chances of surviving are zero." Shepard smiled sarcastically and crossed his arms. "I've got the only way out and I'm offering to take you with me… But you're arguing." He sighed and Jack's frown decreased slightly. She stopped pacing.

"You want me to knock her out? Might be easier that way." Mathias suggested getting an agreeing nod from Miranda. He stepped forward to stand beside Shepard and he mentally prepared himself for a fight.

Jack flashed an obscene gesture at Mathias and took on a more aggressive stance. Her insult angered Mathias and he felt tempted to strangle her in the air, or at least just enough to cause her to pass out. "You try it and your friends will be scraping your insides off the wall."

Mathias started towards Jack with his hands curled into fists and biotics flaring but Shepard grabbed his arm to keep him from attacking her. He looked at Mathias sternly. "You'll kill her." Lightly frowning at Shepard, Mathias ripped his arm from his grasp and backed up. "We're not knocking her out because she's coming _willingly_ , isn't she?" He said, sarcastically motioning towards Jack while still speaking directly to Mathias.

Jack approached Shepard a few steps, curving up one side of her mouth. "If you want me to come, you're going to make it worth my while." She looked at the Normandy, smiled then looked back at Shepard, who stepped forward as well.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked.

Jack examined the Normandy some more then turned her attention back to Shepard, leaning against the wall. She no longer appeared to be overly angry, instead appeared intrigued. "I'm willing to bet there's lots of Cerberus files on your ship." Frowning, Miranda looked at Jack, then to Shepard and back to Jack again. "I want to look at them, see what Cerberus has on me. If you want me on your team you'll let me have those files." Jack demanded as she crossed her arms and smiled mischievously. She huffed quietly and Miranda looked at Shepard, awaiting his response with her eyebrows furrowed. Jack's sudden change in disposition came when she realized she could make it work in her advantage.

Without hesitation, Shepard said, "I'll give you full access." Miranda's expression changed to one of shock and awe.

"Shepard, you're not authorized to do that." Miranda said with a rather surprised tone. Mathias was quite surprised considering Shepard had been essentially threatening Jack but suddenly relented. Deep down Mathias agreed with Miranda. "You might be in command here, but that's classified information."

Jack rolled her eyes and smirked at Miranda. "Aww, cupcake. It upsets the cheerleader. Even better." She snickered. "You'd better be straight up with me, Shepard." She warned, pointing at Shepard who simply nodded. "So why the hell are we still standing here? Let's go." Miranda and Mathias exchanged looks, the former shaking her head and shrugging. The four of them headed towards the Normandy's airlock and boarded. This time, instead of all surprised, shocked and judgemental looks being directed at Mathias they were directed at Jack who merely shrugged them off. Despite this, Yeoman Kelly Chambers approached the four to greet them. She held out a hand to Jack to shake it but Jack merely looked her up and down with her eyebrows lifted, prompting Kelly Chambers to awkwardly take her hand back.

Kelly started, "My name is Kelly Chambers. I'm the Yeoman on the…" Jack interrupted her.

"Enough with the formalities." She turned away from Kelly Chambers and faced Shepard. "I'll be in the deepest and darkest pit in the ship, away from the others. Better that way." She headed towards the elevator at the back of the Combat Information Centre, but stopped and turned around again when Miranda called her attention back. She felt the need to properly introduce Jack herself.

Miranda stood tall with her hands behind her back. "Welcome to the Normandy, Jack. My name is Miranda and I'm Shepard's second-in-command." Jack rolled her eyes and made sure Miranda saw it. "On this ship, we follow orders and have a special set of procedures. As long as you're aboard the Normandy, you will follow command and remain behaved."

"Shepard, tell the cheerleader to back up. I'm only here because of our deal." Jack said, causing Miranda to look down somewhat disappointed and annoyed.

Shepard motioned his head to tell Miranda to step down, but did so gently. "Miranda will let you into the systems. I'd be interested in knowing what you find." He watched as Miranda shook her head, disagreeing with Shepard's decision but not fighting it regardless. Mathias backed up and stood slightly behind Miranda as Jack smiled and laughed sarcastically.

"You hear that, baby girl? You and I are going to be best friends." Jack slowly approached Miranda and the Yeoman backed off, returning to her terminal with a somewhat shocked expression on her face. "You, me and every inconvenient detail." Jack reminded Mathias of himself. She was taunting Miranda and clearly enjoying it, much like what he did. Mathias giggled quietly, but Miranda knocked him lightly on his arm, silencing him. He noted Jack's similar height to Miranda, who he easily stood over.

Jack began backing up to the elevator. "I'll be hiding down in the deepest, darkest pit of this ship. Better if you keep your crew off me." She turned around and went down the elevator. Without saying a word, Miranda expressed her displeasure with Shepard's decision and returned to her office once the elevator was available again. Before Shepard headed towards Jacob's armoury he stopped Mathias.

"You did a good job back on Purgatory." Nodding, Mathias went into the armoury with Shepard to drop off his armour, the same as what Shepard was doing. He left the armoury after watching Jacob examine his suit for a little bit then took the ship's elevator to Deck Four.

On Deck Four, Mathias could hear two people, a man and a woman speaking to each other. He quietly decided to listen in, slowly sneaking through a door that contained steps down.

"What did she look like?"

"Well, from the waist up she wears nothing but tattoos."

The male voice snickered. "Maybe I should go and introduce myself."

"Oh, and she's crazier than a wolverine coked up on Angel Dust."

"Damn it Gabby, stop toying with me."

They stopped speaking and presumably continued working, allowing Mathias to free himself and go down the steps. At the bottom, he found a relatively small room containing the convict they had recruited. She was sitting on a cot, looking at several data pads she had received seconds earlier. She looked up at him like he had two heads.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jack snidely demanded. The question was more rhetorical than truthful and she meant it more as a 'get lost' than an actual inquiry. "I'm busy looking for incriminating stuff. Stick it!" She dropped one data pad and picked up another, scanning it briskly. Mathias approached and grabbed one of the data pads beside her.

"If you don't mind…" He said, looking at the words on the data pad. This one outlined the Normandy SR-2's construction. The ship involved over two thousand people and consumed more than five billion credits during the course of its construction. The ship was also capable of travelling faster than most of the fastest frigates, a parsec rate of… Jack snatched the data pad away from Mathias, who grabbed another. This time he backed off so she couldn't reach out for him and she stared him down. "So… You're the infamous Jack."

This time, Mathias thought he'd narrate and see how Jack reacted to it. "Closure of the Teltin Facility confirmed by the Illusive Man after the escape of a 'Subject Zero'." He paused when he noticed Jack staring at him open-mouthed. She jumped up and snatched the data pad from Mathias' hands who backed off with his hands held up, sarcastically relenting. Jack was fully consumed by the data pad. He crossed his arms.

"Is there something special about that data pad?" He asked deridingly. She appeared to ignore him, engrossed in the information on the data pad. He waited for a few seconds to see if she would do anything but she merely pretended he wasn't there. He slowly closed in with his eyebrows furrowed, and she looked up at him choleric. She put the data pad down and her biotics began flaring up. She attempted to throw him across the room but he countered it by teleporting a few feet away. Jack stared at him surprised and threw a nearby chair at him but he simply deflected it with little effort. Mathias shrugged. "What gives?"

"I don't need this!" Jack shouted as she fired a heavy bolt of biotic energy. It hit Mathias but he simply shrugged it off, finally letting her know what he was capable of by levitating all objects in the room and directing them at her. Jack released a shockwave and blew all the objects back.

Commander Shepard came down the stairs briskly. "The two of you! Enough!" He yelled. Shepard was clearly irate, probably having been sent down by EDI who was likely monitoring the crew, or by the other two who had been working above. "Mathias? What's gotten into you?" He firmly scolded. Mathias was somewhat surprised at the way Shepard had targeted him and avoided looking at him..

Mathias was somewhat inarticulate as Shepard waited for him to say something. He shrugged. "Jack is like me." Jack paced back and forth keeping an angry eye on Mathias.

"I don't want to be fucked!" She shouted. "Who knows I haven't had that enough already?" Mathias glared at her and she moved towards the back of the room to pick her cot back up and leaned against a pillar near it. "That's all anyone ever wants from me. Shepard, tell him to jump off a bridge or something."

Staring at her, Mathias crossed his arms and backed off closer to the staircase to go back up. "I have not met anyone like myself before." He looked at the floor for a second then back up. "Everyone I talk to shuns me because of what I am. Jack… Is the same way." Jack rolled her eyes and Mathias turned around, hastily running up the stairs and going back to his bed in the Crew's Quarters on Deck Three.

He laid down, closing his eyes and examining his emotions. He was confused, mostly because he felt angry and depressed. He almost felt like he and Jack were siblings in a past life and was drawn to her because her situation reflected his own. While he didn't feel any sort of sexual or romantic attraction (which he almost never felt towards anyone) he wanted to open up because he felt like she might understand. He just didn't know how to start a conversation and he blamed himself for starting their fight. He had always been anxious around other people, most notably when he felt their opinion on him was important.

Friendship was often difficult for Mathias. He had no trouble upholding his power over others but where a more lasting relationship was concerned it was a lot blurrier. He could rarely say the right thing and even still, when he could it was difficult for him to maintain conversation. Friendships were rare for him; he had only had a couple somewhat close friends in the past twenty-three years since his father's death, the most recent of which was abducted back on Freedom's Progress. While he didn't consider Dan to be incredibly close and found him rather annoying at times he began to miss the friendship he shared with him. Mathias was also concerned for Dan's well-being as he was now completely at the mercy of the Collectors… If he was still alive at all. Dan was a bit of an oddball. He was known by his hometown's law enforcement for a number of drug-related offenses, having been caught in possession of and selling several controlled substances.

Despite Dan's reputation as sort of a drug dealer, he was rather easy-going, actually quite opposite to Mathias in most regards. Mathias always thought Dan had a crush on him, which wasn't surprising as he has had numerous offers to be taken to bed by patrons at the nightclubs he often visited. However, Dan wasn't forward in that regard. He tried to keep quiet about it, but it's difficult to hide one's true emotions around a vampire. Mathias didn't particularly mind Dan's infatuation with him. In fact, he found it quite flattering because it showed that Dan saw his soul instead of just his body.

The door to the Crew's Quarters opened, abruptly ending Mathias' silence. He opened his eyes again, squinting them and shading them from the bright light. It was Shepard, probably back to reprimand him. "Get up. I need to have a word with you." Shepard motioned with his hand then crossed his arms. Mathias did as was told and went to face the Commander, his chest burning and his heart racing. The Commander did not look like he was going to congratulate him on anything any time soon. Mathias' red eyes darted around to avoid the Commander's fierce gaze.

"What was that all about?" He asked firmly, but not bad-tempered. "Did you go down there because of what happened earlier?" Mathias did not want to speak to him. He felt like telling the Commander that he wasn't looking for a friend and he wanted to get the mission against the Collectors done as soon as possible, even at the expense of his own death but he didn't want to argue with him. Mathias looked at the ceiling trying to collect his words.

"I didn't mean to get into a fight. I just wanted to talk to her." He stated matter-of-factly, trying not to sound combative to the Commander. He wanted the conversation to end. "That's it. I just wanted to talk and I pissed her off. Are we done here?"

Mathias turned back to go and lie down on his bed again but Shepard grabbed his shoulder and made him turn to face him again. Half expecting to have a kiss forced on him, Mathias backed up a very small amount. "There must be more to it than that. What did you mean when you said that 'she's like you'?" Shepard's tenor was a lot lighter when compared to his initial question and he sounded almost like he was _interested_ in hearing what Mathias had to say. "Are you having trouble I need to know about?"

"No", Mathias said shrugging and rolling his eyes. He didn't want to tell the Commander too much. It's not like he was in love with anyone, but it made him uncomfortable to be pressed for information. He searched the room for a distraction and dawdled around.

Shepard furrowed his brow. "Don't leave me guessing, Mathias. You said that 'she's just like you'. Jack is an outlaw, a criminal. She's only here because we need her help fighting the Collectors. Besides that I wouldn't care to have her around. What about her is 'like you'? You're not a criminal, are you?" Mathias crunched his lips and frowned.

"I'm not a criminal!" He interjected, then looked to the floor. "It's just that she's an outcast like me." He shook his head and went back to lie on his bed. With his hands on his chest, Mathias closed his eyes and waited for a few seconds, disappointed when he opened his eyes again and saw that Shepard was still there. "What?" He tried to call Shepard's behaviour into question and hopefully encourage him to leave him alone.

Shepard sat on the nightstand beside Mathias' bunk. "Mathias, you know you can tell me these things. What's on your mind?"

Mathias looked at him quizzically. "I'm not looking for a friend here, Shepard." He watched as Shepard pretended to be insulted. "Oh… No offense. I just don't really… 'Relate' to you very much." Mathias examined the bunk above him and sighed. Shepard's seemingly unusual sensitivity was surprising to Mathias especially with how aggressive the Commander could be.

"Is it because of what you are?"

Mathias sighed and waited a few seconds to mentally prepare himself to speak. He pressed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. The gravity of Shepard's question was high. "If you really want to know…" He paused and swallowed hard. "I've never met anyone like myself before. I've always felt… Detached from society. Partly because people seem to shun me; yes, but also because I've had a hard time talking to people." He shook his head and avoided allowing himself to tear up. He felt crying was a sign of weakness and Mathias was anything but weak. "I feel alone, Shepard. I have no problem with killing people. It's talking to them I have a problem with."

Shepard nodded. "You feel like you relate to Jack. She's not mentally sound, Mathias, so it's not your fault that fight broke out." When Shepard paused, Mathias' stomach turned, for reasons that not even he knew. "You know, if you need to speak to someone Kelly Chambers is available. I think you should see her." Shepard got up and turned to leave. "And, just for the record, you're a part of the Normandy crew now. You're one of us." He exited the room and left Mathias with his own thoughts. The lights automatically dimmed themselves, thinking that the only occupant in the room was going to sleep. Instead of actually going to sleep he got back up and left the room and decided to take Shepard's advice and talk to Kelly Chambers. As he was going up to the Combat Information Centre on Deck Two he started second guessing the decision because he felt it was none of the Yeoman's business.

Mathias saw the Commander speaking to the Yeoman when the elevator's doors opened. "Oh, there he is now!" Yeoman Kelly Chambers cheerfully chirped with her normal bubbly attitude. Shepard nodded towards Mathias then walked off to the Helmsman's Deck just beyond the airlock and Kelly waved him over. She went into the elevator and Mathias followed her, all the way down to the Starboard Observation Deck on Deck Three and closed the door. Kelly took a seat on one of the two sectionals and Mathias took a seat opposite to her, looking out the large observation window and examining the distant stars as they slowly passed by accented by the blue mass effect field that enveloped the Normandy. The room was quiet, absorbing the sound of the ship's busy activity. The Starboard Observation Deck was a dramatic change from the rest of the ship; decorated with potted plants and wall art, as well as a shelf filled with traditional books made from real paper. The Observation Deck was rather peaceful.

She sat neatly across from Mathias, with her right leg over the left and resting her head on her hand, elbow placed on the back of the couch. "I hear you're having some trouble. Care to elaborate?"


	5. Horizon

"I've already told you a lot about myself. Frankly, I'm more interested in your kind. Tell me more about the vampires. It's sort of an offshoot of humanity, right?" Still running calibrations at the terminal, Garrus asked, completing several algebraic equations aligning the newly-installed Thannix cannon installed at a turian defence station. While collecting interesting information in his mind, Mathias admired Garrus' wizardry with a ship's combat systems. He somewhat envied it, not having any particular skills himself beyond his natural psychological skills granted to him by his biology.

Mathias clasped his hands together and rested his head on them, supported by his elbows on his knees. "Like I've said to many people, we're so rare most humans believe we're just a myth. In fact, there have been plenty of extranet articles claiming to have 'proven' vampires to be just folklore. I wouldn't blame you for disbelieving most of what I tell you about us."

"Try me."

Mathias shook his head, grinning. "Well, the main thing that differs us halfbreeds from normal humans is our increased muscle density and strength. I have no problem matching or overpowering krogans, we can run much faster and for longer and we're harder to kill. Then there's our naturally developed biotic abilities. Technically, we don't need any bio-amp implants." He stretched and checked to see if Garrus was still listening. "Other differences include our immunity to illness, immortality, ability to heal faster, sharper hearing, fangs, bioluminescent eyes, pale skin, sensitivity to solar radiation and nocturnal tendencies. Our 'stereotypical' love for blood is also very much true, but contrary to popular belief we don't live on _only_ blood. We just can't."

Garrus paused and scrutinized Mathias for a couple of seconds then returned to his calculations. "I thought humans had to be exposed to Element Zero in the womb in order to possess biotic capability. Asari have natural biotics too, but they still need the implants. How is it possible to not need implants?" Garrus queried as he listened for both Mathias' response and a small repositioning sound that echoed a couple seconds later when he directed the systems to do further relocating.

"Modern vampires first appeared about two-hundred-thousand years ago, the same time humans did. They evolved on a long-gone island close to the Earth continent Africa which had a massive concentration of Element Zero. Soon, pureblood vampires spread from the island and since they're genetically closely related to humans, they began turning humans into halfbreed vampires both by bites and interbreeding." Unscrewing the glass soda bottle, Mathias sipped the flattening drink then put it next to himself on the cot he sat on. "Pureblood vampires are capable of turning regular humans into halfbreeds by biting them and injecting a chemical which causes the body to undergo a series of rapid genetic changes. It is so complex it wasn't understood until the past twenty years. You can also be like me, born a halfbreed, but I digress." He sighed and drank the rest of his soda, leaving the empty bottle in a recycling bin and getting up to lean against the railing beside Garrus' terminal. "I'm probably one of the most powerful biotics in the galaxy. Thanks to my highly powerful bloodline I'm more powerful than many asari on my own, but I also have top-of-the-line bio-amp implants that significantly augment my power even more."

"Huh." Garrus nodded. Only a few more minutes left and all calibrations would be complete, at least for the next several hours. "That would explain why Tarak's aircraft provided little challenge for you on Omega. You also said something about 'purebloods' and that you're only a 'halfbreed'. What's the difference, and how come there aren't more of you?"

Mathias looked out the forward battery and towards the mess hall as two Normandy crew members conversed like he and Garrus, only except they did so over coffee and sitting at one of the two tables. "To answer your first question, pureblood vampires are basically another species in the genus humanity is a part of; however, their appearance is much different from a human. They're what human religions consider demons because that's _exactly_ what they look like. They're massive red, winged creatures with horns on the head, muzzles full of flesh-cutting teeth and razor-sharp claws. They're also vastly stronger than even halfbreed vampires. A halfbreed is just a glorified human with vampire properties." Mathias paused to breathe for a minute and examine the calculations Garrus was carrying out. He watched as Garrus tried finding a perfect balance between firepower and accuracy. "As for why we're so rare…" He breathed deeply and wiped sweat from his brow that suddenly appeared. "Vampires are frequent targets for hunters."

Garrus paused and looked at Mathias bleakly. "Hunters. You're hunted for sport." He said, almost bewildered. "Why?" Garrus appeared somewhat sickened.

Mathias pressed his eyes shut, sighed and shook his head, crossing his arms then looking to the ceiling. "Humans still cling to religion even today, but it's not like how it was hundreds of years ago. Because so many human religions considered all vampires to be demons, they demanded that we be killed. We were widely feared even though vampire attacks on innocents were rare, and thanks to that there are many notable periods of vampire slaughter. Assassins were often employed to stealthily kill all vampires in a given area and other times groups of humans would go on hunting trips, kill any vampires they found then take the fangs and horns as trophies, then burn the bodies." The thought of such barbarism frightened Mathias and there wasn't much he found frightening. "I've… Seen the heads of purebloods… Mounted in ancient ruins." He almost let a tear slip. "Even in the twenty-first and twenty-second centuries what few vampires there were, were still targeted by various cults."

Letting a displeased sigh go, Garrus shook his head. The whole idea behind his actions on Omega was to protect innocent civilians from unwarranted brutality, but there was only so much he could do. "I take it you lost someone to these attacks. It must be difficult. Did you live through any slaughters?"

Eyes burning, Mathias turned his head away from Garrus to prevent him from seeing his weakness. "I'm not old enough to have lived through it, not even my father was." He quietly choked back tears and sniffled, getting off the ledge to face the wall. Mathias pulled back his sleeve to view the small tattoo on his wrist he got the day before his father's death. "My father… He was born in nineteen seventy-one. It wasn't bad like it was prior to Earth's early nineteen-hundreds but he still had to keep himself hidden. He may have been a pureblood vampire but he could still be killed by…" Mathias stopped. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this." He started towards the door but Garrus stopped him.

"I want to hear more."

Mathias sighed and went back to sit down on Garrus' cot, as Garrus now stood in front of him to listen. "My father was more ferocious than most pureblood vampires. He was three-hundred and fifty centimetres tall, taller than most and had a massive wingspan." He chuckled quietly. "Humans ran in terror from the sight of him and even other purebloods feared him, but his personality didn't reflect his outwards appearance. He's honestly the only reason I'm still alive today."

What Mathias thought as Garrus' eyebrows appeared to furrow. As a turian, Garrus seemed quite similar to humans in many ways and it always surprised him even though he had been around aliens since he was twelve. "Of course you're alive because of him. Without him, you'd have never been… Oh. I see what you mean." Garrus' sudden realization shocked him since Mathias was all bravado and he could certainly show for it but he had a side he never exposed, being quite the revelation that no one knew.

Sighing and shaking his head, Mathias looked to the ground. He thought about his earlier chat with Kelly Chambers and compared it to now, feeling rather indifferent about what Kelly Chambers had said but feeling good about opening up to Garrus. It was weird, Mathias felt a sort of closeness to the turian following his nightly rest. Previously thinking that his personal issues were none of anyone's business, he now felt better to reveal some of his past to a friend. Not even Dan knew about this side of Mathias.

"I don't like saying this, but…" Mathias swallowed hard, like he was downing rocks. "I have some… Issues in my mind. Problems with the way I feel. If my father hadn't been there for me when I was younger, I would have easily taken my own life. Hell, I don't even know how I got through his death, it's been really difficult. I've sworn to find and kill the bastard who killed my father."

"Hmph. I know what that's like. One of my team betrayed me and let my men die. I will find him and make him pay for it, and I will help you find your father's killer." Garrus said, almost like he was plotting out how it would be done. It made Mathias feel better to know that he had someone else on his side and not because he had blackmailed them into it. "If it's alright, I'd like to know what exactly happened."

Mathias almost felt excited to tell Garrus about his past as he was finding it rather therapeutic. He stood up and began to pace back and forth. "I remember waking up one morning sitting in a dark room with my hands bound behind my back by something I couldn't break out of. My father was across from me, also bound and tied. Then, they came in and forced me… They forced me to watch as their leader cut his throat and told me that's what their gods wanted." The air was draining from Mathias' lungs as he explained and he struggled to keep himself from breaking down. It was embarrassing enough to be openly sobbing in front of another and it was something he had never done before, aside from his father. "I can remember them telling me that their gods demanded a 'sacrifice with a desire for everlasting sleep', and they were only making me suffer for my sake. The rest is blurry to me, I don't remember how I escaped, all I know is that I killed all of the cult members in the process - except for the leader himself."

The thought that one of those responsible for his father's death was still at large caused a severe spike in anger within Mathias' mind. Getting up and turning around, he threw an excessively powerful punch at the wall, creating a deep crater in the thick and heavy metal and taking Garrus aback with the unexpected display of bravado. He stormed out of the Forward Battery and back towards the Crew's Quarters drawing surprised looks in the process. He sat on his bunk with his head ducked down, massaging his temples to cool his mind. Something had to be done - the cult leader was left at large for twenty-three years. Mathias needed to find and kill the leader to release the weight on his mind and avenge his father's death, but he didn't know where to start. Although the cult leader was most likely back on Earth, he could still be anywhere in the galaxy and that would bring a significant challenge. Finding one person back in one city could be difficult enough.

A sudden realization got Mathias' heart pounding - upon seeing the Cerberus logo silkscreened on the wall, he thought that with Cerberus' extensive connections the cult leader wouldn't have far to run. He got an idea and stood up fast, whacking his head on the upper bunk. Rubbing his head he rushed towards Miranda's office and slammed his hands onto her desk evoking a startled expression from her. She paused her report at her terminal. "Is there… Something I can do for you?"

"I need the help of Cerberus." He stared her dead in the eye, disregarding his hate for the organization and feeling the need to rush. He wanted to go as quickly as possible to prevent the cult leader from getting away, even though the leader already had twenty-three years to do that. "I need to find someone as soon as possible."

Miranda unlocked her terminal again and opened up a form. "I'm going to need some details about this person. What is their race, ethnicity, gender, name and last known location?" She prepared to fill out the form as she listened patiently.

Mathias thought for a minute. "Human, European descent, male…" He paused trying to remember the name. Mo… Mor… It was on the tip of his tongue and he couldn't pull it from his mind, but then he remembered the sea creature. "All I can remember was his name being 'Moray'. It might not be his real name." He watched as Miranda entered the data into the form on her terminal, touching the holographic keyboard.

"And the last known location."

"A warehouse west of the Calgary-Edmonton Metropolis, in a densely forested area. That's the best I can give you"

Miranda found the warehouse and saved its coordinates to the form and finished filling out the data. "Are there any other details you can provide me with?" There was one damning detail he could give her that would hopefully seal Moray's coffin. His cult was still in existence.

Mathias' red eyes burned with fury. "He ran a cult called 'Kingdom of Illumination." She paused her typing at the computer terminal and stared at Mathias blankly.

"I know who you're talking about." Resuming her data entry she said coldly. "They have a history of murdering people in sadistic rituals. We've been following them for a couple of years now, the only reason they're not gone yet is because we haven't had any actual evidence of any wrongdoing, just a series of hunches."

Mathias' jaw dropped. He spun around and began pacing back and forth with his hands on his head. "You mean to say you know where they are?" He watched Miranda nod. "We have to go get them! That son of a bitch needs to die, die at my hand!"

Miranda looked confused as she held up a hand to stop Mathias and get his attention. "We can't just let you do that. We need evidence of aggression."

A deep feeling began filling Mathias' torso as he turned around and stared at Miranda perplexed and horrified. He felt like throwing her against the wall. If Cerberus wouldn't let him go after Moray and his cult, he would do it himself, even abandoning Shepard's mission if need be. Sitting on one of the chairs before Miranda's desk, he cradled his head in his hands and began cursing and swearing heavily. Miranda got up and slowly walked over to face him with her arms crossed. "If you can convince them you're a willing sacrifice we'll have the evidence we need." She suggested. "Shepard will return from Korlus shortly. I've also got a note from the Illusive Man who needs to speak with him urgently. When the time can be spared, we can go after the Kingdom of Illumination, but it's entirely Shepard's call."

Anxiously, Mathias rushed out of Miranda's office and headed to Deck Two. While he quickly walked towards the airlock by the pilot's cabin, he overheard two crew members talking about 'a big package just arriving in the Normandy's Shuttle Bay' as they entered the elevator he had just left. He decided to follow the two human crew members when he realized Shepard would be coming in through the Shuttle Bay and restlessly waited for the elevator to go down to Deck Five. The door open and he shoved past the two crew members, watching as a large shuttle landed in the bay with the atmosphere of the planet visible outside. The two crew members called others by with a heavy lift and Mathias watched as the shuttle's door revealed a huge tank containing an armoured krogan. Shepard, Jack and Mordin stepped out and stood by as the crew members used the lift to remove the tank, but before the tank was completely removed Shepard hastily walked towards the elevator and Mathias quickly followed.

"Shepard!" Mathias excitedly yelled from behind Shepard who merely waved his arm for Mathias to follow to the elevator. Once they were in the elevator Mathias turned to face Shepard while it moved them to Deck Two. "Shepard! I have something important, and I need your help!"

The elevator door opened on Deck Two and Shepard rushed out with Mathias beside him. He headed into Jacob's armoury. "Can it wait for a minute? I have an urgent message from the Illusive Man." He hurried into the Communications Room, leaving Mathias behind who waited energetically for the Commander to reemerge. He paced back and forth.

A few minutes later, Shepard reappeared from the Communications Room. "Suit up and meet me in the shuttle bay." Shepard ordered Mathias as he headed back down to Deck Five, prompting Mathias to swiftly dress and arm himself in the heavy Cerberus equipment then head down to Deck Five himself. The way Shepard was moving and speaking with such urgency caused a surge of adrenaline to flood Mathias' veins and he began to breathe a lot more heavily. He could also feel the sense of urgency in the Normandy, as the rest of the crew probably already knew what was going on. The sense of urgency, coupled with the knowledge that his father's killer was within his grasp made Mathias ready for a fight.

Mathias reentered the shuttle bay, seeing Mordin applying something to Shepard's suit, eventually seeing he was injecting them with something when he injected Jack with it, then quickly called Mathias over who ran the rest of the way. The salarian scientist then forcefully and quickly injected Mathias with something, eliciting a small grimace from him. "Seekers use exhaled carbon dioxide to determine human source, similar to Earth mosquitos. Countermeasure slightly alters exhaled carbon dioxide to make organic source indistinguishable from inorganic sources." He quickly explained, discarding the three used syringes in a bio-waste basket which was promptly removed by another one of the ship's crew members. "Countermeasure also provides certain level of immunity to seeker neurotoxin thanks to study of vampire reaction to seekers. Probably wouldn't work if attacked by hundreds of seekers at once, but should not encounter that many."

Shepard addressed both Jack and Mathias. "We're headed towards a human colony called Horizon. It has just gone quiet and we think it may be the next colony to be hit by the Collectors." He explained as he checked their distance and elapsed travel time on his omni-tool. "Mathias, you're coming with Jack and I since you are tried-and-true and probably have the best chance against them. Jack is coming to give her an idea of what we're up against." Mathias nodded and hopped into the shuttle, Jack and Shepard following. Jack sat next to Mathias on the shuttle, while Shepard sat across from them. Mathias could feel Jack's unnerving eyes on him.

As the pilot at the front of the shuttle awaited the command to leave and drop the three off at the colony, Mathias decided he should brief the Commander on his situation. "Shepard, I want to go after a cult, the one that killed my father." Shepard's response surprised him.

"We'll take care of it when we're free after dealing with Horizon." What surprised Mathias so much about Shepard's response was how quickly he agreed and permitted it. They still had more people to recruit for the mission. "What is it that you plan on doing when you find what you look for?"

Moving his head up minimally, Mathias looked at Shepard with his eyes turned up. He smiled mischievously. "I'm going to lure them into revealing their sadistic rituals. Then I'm going to kill them."

"Hmph." Jack crossed her arms. "That a cult I might have screwed with?" She asked oddly not rudely towards Mathias.

Mathias paused and looked at her for a second. "Kingdom of Illumination, or more colloquially known as vampire hunters."

Crunching her lips and furrowing her brow, Jack looked at the ceiling for a second. She shook her head. "Nope, but I know they're assholes. Really weird bunch, too. Wouldn't be sad to see them gone."

"You said this cult killed your father?" Shepard asked.

Mathias shook his head and collected his emotions as he prepared to explain. "Twenty-three years ago, I was kidnapped and forced to watch them kill my father. They wanted to deteriorate my mental state so that I'd be begging for them to kill me. Some fucked up ritual, if you asked me." Jack shook her head, disapproving of the cult's actions. The shuttle's pilot soon got word to kick off out the Normandy. As the shuttle left the Normandy, Mathias' thoughts shifted from the cult to the sight of the massive Collector vessel he previously saw at Freedom's Progress, towering thousands of metres above the human colony called Horizon, and immediately went back to what he saw on Freedom's Progress beginning with the unsettling creatures then frozen humans. Mathias saw Jack's and Shepard's startled expressions upon having seen the Collector vessel for the first time themselves. "That's exactly what I saw on Freedom's Progress." Mathias added.

"Shit. That ship is massive. Does it really leave no evidence behind?" Jack curiously queried, eyes fixated out the shuttle's window, her mouth agape. "I've seen some shit, but this is something new."

Mathias faced Jack. "The ship on Freedom's Progress lifted off almost completely silently. I've never seen any vessel do that, even with the Normandy's full stealth systems engaged I doubt it could take off completely quietly. Mind you, this ship looks identical to the one I saw at Freedom's Progress."

The shuttle quickly approached the ground. "I don't think the Collectors would be using the same ship for every abduction, but then again the abductions have been spaced out enough that it wouldn't be a problem. Take the colonists, drop them off at the homeworld then go back and get more." Shepard said as he got up and armed himself with his favoured semi-automatic pistol. Mathias and Jack did the same, holding onto the shuttle's handles as it landed. The shuttle doors opened and they took their first steps on Horizon's yellow grass.

The imposing sight of the vertical Collector vessel aside, Horizon had a highly pleasant environment, resembling an autumn-like temperate deciduous forest. Much like Freedom's Progress, the atmosphere was extremely ominous, even without the knowledge of the attack by an enigmatic species. Shepard, Jack and Mathias pressed on with their weapons up, towards the portable buildings that made up the majority of the colony. "Mordin, are you sure your countermeasure will keep the seekers away from us?" Shepard spoke into his visor's mouthpiece. Mathias could hear his voice in his earpiece and thought that now was not exactly the best time to second guess the scientist since they were already running into hell.

A slightly distorted version of Mordin came through on all their earpieces. "Can't be totally sure, haven't tested it yet. But provided seeker swarms are limited, should confuse detection, make you practically invisible, in theory. Looking forward to seeing if you survive." Mathias was startled by Mordin's seemingly lacking faith in their ability to stay secure from the seekers. If they all got frozen, they were as good as gone. Even Mathias thought if he was stung enough he could end up frozen.

" _In theory?"_ Jack repeated, apparently also a little startled.

" _Looking forward to seeing if we survive?"_ Continuing, Mathias also repeated. "Mordin, do you actually believe your countermeasure will work?"

"Oh, I believe so." Mordin quickly said. "Mathias will likely be fine regardless, but I trust Shepard and Jack will make it out satisfactorily."

As they walked towards a small plaza depressed into the ground, Mathias watched as seeker swarms simply passed over them without stopping. He held his breath until several shots rung out, forcing all three into cover behind a planter. Several Collectors who had been gathering frozen colonists attacked the squad as they approached. Jack made a quick example of them by forcing a nearby fire extinguisher to explode, with added force thanks to her biotics. Two Collectors that got blown back by the force got up and continued to fire at them but Mathias simply fired two shots into each of their heads, their bodies falling to the ground.

Seeing the area was clear, Shepard nodded at both Jack and Mathias who slowly moved forward into the plaza. They stopped to examine one of the Collector bodies for a second. "Disgusting creatures." Mathias said, lightly kicking the dead Collector's head.

Jack surveyed the area as Shepard looked on, keeping his pistol up. "I remember this one time while I was running with this gang, a couple of the others kidnapped a few quarians and gave them to the Collectors in exchange for some of their weapons. Wasn't exactly fond of the idea, but damn those guns kicked some serious ass." Jack almost laughed. They continued moving forward.

"I take it you don't have them anymore." Mathias asked as he examined the full height of the Collector vessel. They walked past several of the pods the Collectors used to collect the frozen colonists.

Mathias could see Jack rolling her eyes. "No shit, Sherlock. I lost them long before I got captured and locked up at that space station. If I still had those weapons, you think I'd be using this?" She held up her shotgun.

"Focus on the task at hand, you two. The last thing we need is another skirmish between the both of you." Shepard sternly scolded as they turned a slight corner.

A garbled voice suddenly and urgently yelled over their earpieces. "Shepa… Having tr… Losing conne… Too much… Ference…" Silence took over the Normandy's end.

"I think the Collectors' ship is breaking us up." Mathias suggested, as they came across another plaza. They dropped down a small ledge and immediately as they did several Collectors flew in, and the three took cover behind a few decorative pillars. "They have wings?!" Mathias paused and looked at the creatures wide-eyed as they landed and started firing at the three. The one several metres in front of Mathias setup a shield to fire behind but it proved to be that particular individual's final mistake - Mathias overloaded it resulting in a large explosion that killed three other Collectors, in addition to the one in front of him.

"Nice!" He heard Jack yell has he ducked in behind another planter further on. Jack sent a progressive shockwave that exploded as it moved forward, splitting up the small band of Collectors in front of Mathias. Shepard, with his impeccable aim killed all three Collectors before they even hit the ground and Mathias held a thumbs up in Shepard's direction, making the Commander smile happily. They pressed on, going down another eerily silent corner.

Upon going up a slight incline, they saw an abomination of a human body on the ground - it was gray, with an unusual blue glow from the eyes and from cracks in the body. It was twisted from its original form, completely hairless and had numerous tubes attached to the torso, some even going into the mouth. Its rib cage was clearly visible. The trio stopped to look at it.

"I guess we know what happened to the other colonists." Jack said with finality. Mathias crouched down to examine the body more closely, running a gloved finger along its head. The body felt incredibly dry and its skin flaked off, making Mathias' own skin crawl.

Mathias stood back up. "This must be one of the husks I've heard about, the ones the Geth used." He looked deep into the eyes of the human abomination.

Shepard shook his head. "The Geth impaled their victims to turn them into husks, but we haven't seen any spikes, at least not yet. The Collectors must have brought these husks with them." He looked around, keeping his semi-automatic pistol aimed in case any other Collectors suddenly came for them. "The Collectors are taking their victims alive. They want them for some other purpose, live experimentation, maybe."

"I don't want to think about what the Collectors are doing with their living victims. I've been reading a lot of your past mission reports, Shepard. The Geth got their husk-making spikes from the Reaper Sovereign. What do the Collectors have to do with…" A sudden realization hit Mathias as he spoke. He stood for a second with his eyes and mouth wide. "I see now."

Jack exchanged looks with Shepard. "Shit. That means the Collectors _are_ working for the Reapers." She seemed genuinely interested in the issue, as was Mathias which was unusual, as both were normally only interested in their own issues.

Shepard shook his head and waved his hand towards himself. "Let's go. We're not going to let the Collectors get away with anymore victims." How they were going to stop such a force was beyond Mathias, but Shepard did have quite the reputation for a reason.

"Whatever you say, boss-man." Jack humorously said as she and Mathias tagged behind Shepard. They turned one final corner and entered one of the colony's many meeting areas, uncomfortably devoid of human life. This area was swarming with Collectors, but they appeared to have not noticed the three as they snuck up and took cover behind several decorative ledges. Each took point at a strategic location to do a lot of damage and were relatively spread out. Mathias waited for Shepard to give the signal, then fired a powerful biotic shock at a group of two Collectors, killing them instantly. Jack had also decimated a small group while Shepard picked off several Collectors in succession. Mathias finished off one remaining Collector and they moved forward, Mathias laughing when he realized that this group of Collectors had not even gotten off a single shot at them. He high-fived Jack.

They slowly examined the pods the Collectors were placing bodies in. "These people… Just gone." Jack said as she more closely scrutinized one of the pods. She tapped the nearly opaque window, feeling it was hard like a type of plastic. The Collector ship emitted rather strange and unsettling sounds all across the colony.

"We got here in the middle of the abduction, but it's already deserted." Mathias forced open one of the pods, finding a paralyzed woman inside. "They had no chance of getting away." He could see her frightened eyes shifting and imagined her relief to find that another human had opened the pod up and not one of the Collectors. He sat and thought for a minute, then continued to follow Shepard when he called him over.

Shepard, Jack and Mathias climbed up onto a platform containing many crates. They saw a paralyzed colonist, being kept upright by some kind of stasis field, reminding Mathias that they had still not been stung by any seekers yet. They slowly approached the male human. "You think they're still awake?" Jack asked, peering over a corner then returning her attention to the colonist. The sound emitted by the stasis field was a low, electronic hum.

"They must be. I've noticed their eyes moving. I wonder why the Collectors don't just knock them out, why they must have their victims fully aware of what's going on." Mathias explained slowly creeping out of the corner, seeing there were no more Collectors so far. He saw many other frozen colonists.

Shepard pressed forward with Jack following. "These colonists have been frozen for a long time. They haven't been taken yet. Let's keep that from happening." Mathias nodded and ran behind cover when he saw more Collectors flying in off in the distance. He signalled for Shepard and Jack to do the same as they apparently did not notice them until they were very close.

Beginning a routine assault, the three were shocked when one of the Collectors suddenly burst into orange light. Somewhat confused, Mathias started firing at the orange-glowing Collector but noticed that it now had a fortified armour. "We are the Harbinger of your destiny." A deep, unsettling voice echoed from the Collector. It unnerved Mathias and he attempted to draw it closer while restricting its movement but it appeared to resist the attempt, so instead he used his powerful biotics to rip the Collector apart. He traded shocked looks with both Jack and Shepard who quickly killed the remaining Collectors in the area. They moved towards a large door and saw two other Collectors attempting to break into the service room behind, Shepard killing both with his pistol. They approached the door, Jack and Mathias waiting as Shepard hacked through the door's security systems. They entered the room to find it rather quiet and lifeless. Walking into the main area, the sound of a wrench hitting the floor echoed through the air, and all three pointed their weapons at the source of the sound.

"We've got company. Show yourself!" Shepard ordered, watching as a human male peered from behind a generator, then slowly move out into the open. A worker for the colony's machines, the man looked older and somewhat withered. When he was revealed to be a normal human like the rest of the colonists, the three put down their guns and let him speak.

He paced back and forth rubbing his hands together, clearly sweating and nervous. His heartrate was so strong Mathias could feel it almost in his own chest. "You… You're… What are you doing here? You're… You're going to lead them right here!" He tried equalizing his breathing patterns. "How come you didn't get frozen?"

Shepard, Jack and Mathias approached him. Shepard started, "It sounds like it's kind of difficult to hide from the Collectors. You had to hear them trying to get into here." He watched as the man's jaw dropped, almost to the floor.

"Wait… Collectors? That's what those ugly bastards are? You mean… They're real? I thought they were made up to keep us in Alliance space." He continued pacing back and forth unable to calm his nerves. Mathias was surprised the man had not yet wet his pants. "Shit, shit shit. I can't believe this. Damn it! I saw Lilith go down, and Sten too! I think they got everybody except for me!"

"We need you to tell us everything you remember. I want to know what we're up against." Shepard cooly ordered.

"Come on, Shepard. You already saw it." Jack interjected, Shepard holding up his hand to stop her from speaking any further. "Just saying."

The man breathed out heavily and wiped sweat from his brow, leaning against the wall behind him. He shook his head. "Our off-world communication signals went down just a few hours ago. After I came down here to try and figure out the problem, I heard screaming. I sealed the doors when I saw swarms of… Bugs, freezing everyone they touched outside." He started to panic again, resuming his pacing and sweating more. "Damn it! The Alliance made us a target. They built those damn guns and stationed that Chief Williams here. It's their fault, shit! They said the Chief was here to get the guns working, but I think she's here to spy on us."

"Maybe we could use those defense towers to fend off the Collectors." Mathias suggested, Shepard nodding towards him, then examined the generators. The Collector ship looked like it was heavily fortified, but the guns might provide them with the additional clout they needed. Shepard planned on showing the Collectors a thing or two.

Sighing, the man shook his head. "The targeting system needs to be calibrated first, but it's never worked right. If you really want to try screwing around with it, there's a transmitter at the other end of the colony. It's pretty hard to miss, the controls are at the base of it." Shepard nodded and turned to the door opposite to the one they entered the room through.

"You should stay here, it'd be safer that way." Shepard said as they opened the door, getting ready to leave.

"Yeah, I think so too. I'm locking the doors when you leave." The panicked man went back to a control pad and sealed the door once Shepard, Jack and Mathias stepped out and came across another plaza, this one looking like a sort of concession with picnic tables. The Collectors were back in full swing, setting up shields and aggressively firing at the three. Taking cover behind more of the ubiquitous heavy planters, Shepard, Jack and Mathias returned fire. Mathias, positioned close to a ramp into one of the portable buildings overloaded the shields in one go, giving each of the Collectors a nasty zap then killing three when he was suddenly startled by a loud roar from behind him. He saw the startled and shocked expression on Jack's face.

"What the fuck is that?!" She yelled. Almost too scared to turn around, Mathias fired his gun backwards, over his head before he was hit with some kind of cold artillery. It was powerful enough to take out his shields, and he ran closer to where one of the dead Collectors was and got a good look at what roared at him and hit him. What Mathias saw was ghastly and horrifying. It was like the last husk they had seen, only except much larger. It limped slowly with its head placed on one of its shoulders, the other shoulder having a huge mass filled with various fluids. What was most abominable was the fact that one of its arms had been replaced with a large gun. What humanity it had left was robbed by the Collectors. It shuffled slowly towards the group as they executed the remaining Collectors, continuing to fire its heavy weapon at the three who all huddled in behind the same planter.

Mathias shot at the sack on the creature's shoulder and watched it burst then the fluids spilled out, leaving the area with a foul smell. The weapon attached to the faltering mass began failing. The way the creature looked made Mathias think it was almost begging to be killed and put out of its misery, if it even had any feelings or emotions left over. He did just what he thought it wanted and ripped the creature apart, limb by limb with his biotics like he did with the strangely orange Collector. The low groaning didn't stop, this time it was coming from behind them. The three moved around the planter and saw another limbering mass, firing its freezing artillery at them. Shepard, Jack and Mathias fired furiously at the creature, surprised by how resilient it proved to be. Like the last creature, this one was finished off when the sack, evidently powering its gun was burst. Jack effectively destroyed it with her biotics, but left it in one piece.

The three slowly approached the second creature they killed, covering their noses to protect themselves from the fetid stench. Shepard scanned the creature with his omni-tool to collect data on it. "EDI, analyze this information." Shepard maintained his highly unpleasant expression while Jack and Mathias stared at the abomination. EDI's distorted voice came over their earpieces.

"This creature is known as a Scion, to those who have encountered them in the past." The creature continued to leak a blackish-blue liquid, probably what was supposed to be its blood. "It consists of three humans fused together as well as many redundant organs and element zero reserves that power the cannon attached to its arm." The group exchanged astonished looks then continued forwards with their weapons up, Mathias popping in a new heatsink to keep his gun cool.

"This is… Unbelievable, worse than what I saw on Freedom's Progress. I never saw any of those husks or 'Scions' there. I'm just… I don't know what to think." Keeping his weapon up and avoiding his guard falling, Mathias said thoughtfully as they passed through a door. The transmitter for the defense turret was in view, in the middle of a field containing many crates. Jack killed the two Collectors that were apparently just hanging around in the area and they approached and activated the transmitter.

Shepard covered his other ear to hear his earpiece better. "Do you copy, Normandy?"

"It's Joker here. The signal is weak but we have you." The ship's pilot could be heard on all earpieces, distorted and somewhat garbled like EDI's voice was.

"EDI, we need you to get this colony's defence towers up and running. It's time to kick some Collector ass!" Shepard pointed his gun forward and turned around multiple times to make sure the area was clear. Mathias could hear some noises coming from behind some of the crates but he didn't go to explore it, just yet.

"Errors in the calibration software are easily corrected but the towers will take time to reach peak output power. You will need to guard the transmitter as I bring the defense systems online. I will not be able to mask the increased generator output." With what EDI said, there was an audible upshift whine emitted from the colony's generators and at that moment, two more hideous Scions appeared from behind the crates, as if they were waiting for the right time. Jack let go a progressive shockwave that destabilized both the Scions and brought them to their knees, eventually knocking them down all the way. The three fired at them relentlessly, Mathias killing one with a powerful biotic slam and the other being killed shortly after. Mathias was blind sided by a husk that had quickly approached him from behind and gave him a hard whack. He simply grabbed the husk by the throat and threw it away, Jack shooting its head off while it was still mid-air. Mathias turned around and saw a number more husks rushing towards him with their backs hunched. He threw a biotic wave onto the ground blowing them all away then splattering them on the ground.

Soon, more Collectors flew in with their wings and began shooting at the three. Shepard and Jack took cover in behind a shipping crate while Mathias took point opposite from them, close to where the dead Scions were. When they killed one Collector, a couple more flew in and took its place. Mathias waited for them to group close together and when his opportunity came, he ran fast into the group and released a massive biotic shockwave, vapourizing all Collectors and even destabilizing Jack and Shepard several metres away. Mathias' heart was left pounding and sweat pouring down his face. He regrouped with Shepard and Jack as silence besides the defense towers started to close in.

"I think that's the last of…" Mathias' short lived feeling of relief disappeared when the unpleasant sight of a strange, floating creature flew in and started firing blue particle beams at them. They hid in behind the crates to avoid being hit by the burning lasers and fired heavily at it. The creature was very large and appeared similar to a Collector's head, but it appeared to contain many husks. It wasn't as terrible to look at as a Scion, but it wasn't far off. As the group fired at it, the creature suddenly dropped down to the ground with a shockwave that threw Mathias and Jack back a few metres. They got up and continued firing at the creature, soon seeing their biotic powers had little effect on the creature. Mathias attempted to jump out of cover to find a new hiding spot as the creature drifted slowly towards them, but received a direct hit from the creature's particle beam for a prolonged amount of time.

Writhing in pain, Mathias collapsed to the ground face first and nearly blacked out. He could hear Shepard calling his name in the distance but to him it sounded blurry. Mathias lay on the ground, waiting for the creature to finish him off, but there was nothing. All around him the noise of Jack's and Shepard's fire was dimmed. The creature caused a lot of pain, not only in his body but also his mind. He thought about how he had failed Shepard and how he let his father's killer get away and that there was now nothing more he could do. He heard the creature slam down on the ground again but it was now far enough to have not affected him. It was the end for him.

Mathias began slipping out of and into consciousness for seconds at a time. He tried crawling towards a crate leaving his gun behind but failed when he was overcome by a sudden weakness. Forcing himself to look in behind, he saw the creature fade into dust. He relented and dropped himself back to the ground face first and waited for his ultimate demise but felt Shepard turn him over and hold his head up off the ground. He saw Shepard's face obscured by the planet's sun and he could hear him saying something but he couldn't make it out. The pain was starting to fade a small amount but he could still barely move on his own. Jack used her omni-tool to do something and he could see her speaking, presumably to get the Normandy to pick them up and be ready for them. If he died now, he knew it wouldn't be so bad since it would have been in the arms of someone who _actually_ cared about him. It made Mathias feel a kind of love and adoration for Shepard he had only ever felt for his father.

He could see Shepard and Jack guarding their eyes as a low rumbling sound made its way to Mathias' brain, and he could vaguely see the Collector vessel lifting off and disappearing into space. An unknown woman in white armour with red accents approached, knelt beside Mathias and spoke to Shepard like she knew him. She appeared somewhat interested in Mathias' condition, but more interested in Shepard who directed most of his attention to assuring Mathias was taken care of. He ordered Jack to do something and she went back to her omni-tool. The pain was suddenly completely gone as his suit flooded with omni-gel and both his vision and hearing returned to normal. He still felt weak but it was extremely relieving to finally be making progress. Mathias attempted to move his hand in front of his face to block out the sun but Shepard made him put it down.

"There were rumours that you weren't dead, or worse, were working for the enemy." The woman appeared to be frustrated with Shepard over something.

"Cerberus and I both want the same thing - to save our colonies, but I don't answer to them." Shepard said as he kept Mathias from trying to sit up. Not a big deal, he couldn't sit up anyways. A shuttle landed in a clearing nearby.

The woman briefly turned her attention to the shuttle and two crew members who had rushed out to assess Mathias. They got down on their knees and let Shepard stand back up as they began to remove Mathias' armour, the medi-gel inside leaking out. His clothes beneath the armour were damp from both sweat and medi-gel. The crew members removed Mathias from the field and placed him on a stretcher, bringing him into the shuttle where the they removed all his clothing save for his undergarments and examined his body for any serious damage, finding rather severe bruising ranging from his mid-torso to his upper legs. They moved an x-ray machine over his body to look for broken bones, finding two broken ribs. Using the medical equipment they brought along they were able to reposition the broken ribs, making Mathias wince as they bound them together inside his body with element zero-based tools.

Mathias watched as Shepard and the woman finished their conversation then as he and Jack approached and entered the shuttle. They sat across from him and he watched as Shepard examined the dark red bruising on Mathias' normally pasty-white skin. "How do you feel?" Shepard asked.

Mathias frowned like he had asked a stupid question. Frankly, it was a dumb question but regardless it was welcome. He didn't want Shepard to leave his side while he suffered. "I feel like shit." Mathias barely managed to mutter. The sensation of mild vertigo filled his body as he closed his eyes and blacked out.


	6. Vampire's Father

Now twenty-six years old, Mathias sipped and savoured a strawberry daiquiri he ordered at the bar in one of the most elegant lounges in the entire Calgary-Edmonton Metropolis - situated on the top of a five-hundred storey skyscraper constructed on the site of the old Saddledome, it was one of the hardest lounges to gain access to. Mathias' trick? His usual intimidating appearance, only this time he actually had to scare the bouncer into letting him in by holding him in the air with his biotics. It wasn't cheap place either, they charged him two-hundred credits for the beverage and while it wasn't quite worth it to him, it was still plenty delicious like none other.

The lounge, although somewhat busy, was relatively quiet. Its dimly lit atmosphere as well as smell of old money were a change for Mathias who was used to loud, thumping, flashing and exciting nightclubs. The calming jazz music was not his favourite but his preferred electronic-trance music would not fit well with the lounge. He watched the small, well-dressed human band finish one piece of music then begin another, as the beautiful, red-dressed asari bartender served classy drinks and expensive antipastos. The nearby window provided a view like none other, a good couple thousand and a half metres in the air, the entire metropolis and surrounding cities and towns were clearly visible, unobstructed by weather patterns. The white lights danced on the ground, accented by the colourfully illuminated solar streets.

As he relaxed on a soft sectional with three wealthy, handsome and exquisitely attired human businessmen, four angry-looking bouncers approached, all in peak physical condition. The leader of the four grabbed Mathias by the throat and forced him up. The human was clearly angry but it did not scare Mathias in the slightest. He decided not to push it and cause a scene, and instead pushed the bouncers hand off, who simply grabbed his arm and hauled him away from the sectionals. "I don't appreciate freeloading filth like you sneaking into my club!" He growled. The man was slightly shorter than Mathias but not far off from his one-hundred and ninety-two centimetres. The other three bouncers each grabbed onto him to try preventing him from struggling then threw him out of the lounge's doors, back into the small waiting room where the building's hyper-speed elevators could be accessed. Impatient patrons attempting to gain access to the lounge watched incredulously.

"Don't ever come back!" The bouncer shouted, but before he could slam the door in Mathias' face, he used his biotic powers to completely strip off all the clothing from all four bouncers, leaving them completely stark naked. Mathias laughed hard when they realized what had just happened and that virtually every patron of the lounge was staring at them amused. The four naked bouncers rushed into the nearby men's restroom after grabbing up their torn clothing but not before Mathias snapped a photo with his omni-tool, intent on posting it to the extranet with the caption 'a bouncer's night out' for all the galaxy to see, simply to add salt to the wound. Mathias entered the elevator and descended the massive tower.

The tower's automatic doors slid open and Mathias exited, stepping onto the illuminated, pressure-sensitive and solar-collecting sidewalk. A large commotion was stirred up outside. A crowd of people had gathered around a hundred-year old five storey building and were looking up to the top as emergency vehicles attempted to reach the roof. Peering up, Mathias saw a familiar face with his powerful vision - the Jock, standing on the ledge of the building, ready to jump. Perhaps the Jock was more like himself than he thought.

People all around were staring at the suicidal Jock with their mouths agape, covered or uncovered by their hands. Some people shouted "Don't do it!" or "You have so much to live for", the usual things when people don't know what else to say. It wouldn't work; however, Mathias knew it. One time when he was sixteen years old, he was hellbent on taking his own life, nearly stabbing a knife into his heart, but was stopped by his father. He knew how difficult it was to break the bonds of depression and a simple "Don't do it!" just wouldn't cut it.

Mathias' heart hid in his throat when he saw the Jock begin to fall to the ground after a fireman failed to grab him from behind. The crowd emitted one big collective gasp as several others cried out and he watched as the Jock's body fell fast, then land on the ground below with a blood curtling smash. Mathias didn't know what to think - on one hand, the Jock forced him to suffer the worst years of his life and even when the Jock attempted to kindle a friendship with him he forcefully rejected each attempt, but on the other hand he knew the Jock and eventually came to see him as another living being with his own life, hopes, dreams and problems.

The smell of an alcohol-based disinfectant burned Mathias' nose and brought him back to consciousness. For a second he had thought he was still back in 2171, the year he witnessed the Jock commit suicide but realized the real 2185 when he saw Doctor Chakwas straightening her back and discarding an alcohol swab with Shepard on the left side of the bed. Shepard had his arms crossed and was waiting to see if Mathias would say anything. Mathias sat himself up painlessly and examined his surroundings. He shivered in the cool Medical Bay aboard the Normandy SR-2, realizing he was still wearing nothing besides his briefs. The gruesome bruising he had sustained on Horizon was significantly faded, almost totally gone.

"How do you feel?" Shepard asked, adjusting his posture slightly as Doctor Chakwas came back to stand on his right side. Both watched him intently for a response. The Doctor's gray hair was lustrous in the Medical Bay's bright white lights.

Mathias examined himself and felt along his rib cage on both sides, feeling for any abnormalities though finding none. Doctor Chakwas handed him back his own clothing, cleaned and ready to be worn again though the red trim wasn't illuminated. Mathias slipped on the pants then looked over his shirt, examining it for any defects. "I feel… Fine. Should I be feeling anything?" He asked not turning to face the Commander or the Doctor.

"I expected a quick recovery, but I've never seen anything quite like it." Chakwas' voice was honeyed, speaking the way a well-off business woman would. "It only took a few hours for your ribs to completely heal and your bruising is already almost gone. You required little treatment." Mathias got up off the medical bed, towering over Chakwas and slightly over Shepard. Chakwas stepped aside and he walked over to a mirror to get a better look at the faded bruising and examined his back, then slipped on his sleeveless shirt and powered on the red trim. It felt good to be wearing clean, pleasant smelling clothes.

Shepard appeared behind Mathias, though keeping his distance. "I'm glad to see you're alright. You had us worried, that injury looked bad. It had to hurt." Mathias turned around to see Shepard smiling as Miranda walked in. "You were out for about eight hours, but you weren't comatose."

Miranda slowly approached Shepard, Chakwas and Mathias, handing Shepard a data pad. "The Illusive Man wanted to congratulate you on your work back on Horizon. He has sent us several armour upgrades that should protect us from injuries like what Mathias had sustained. Cerberus analyzed the particle beam that hit Mathias. If it had been anyone else, they would have died almost immediately." Miranda looked Mathias over, probably surprised to see he was up so quickly. She then left the Medical Bay and returned to her office, stepping aside as a purple-suited quarian entered. Mathias examined her.

"Shepard, I wanted to thank you again for your help back on Haestrom. Without it, I think I would be dead now." The quarian spoke, slightly rolling her tongue on various letters. She looked at Mathias who could see her light and graceful face behind the purple mask. He recognized her. "Is this Mathias, the one who took a direct hit from a particle beam?" Shepard nodded.

Mathias slowly approached her and shook her hand, backing off again. "I'm Tali, we met on Freedom's Progress and I had you sent back to the Citadel. I'm going to help with Shepard's mission against the Collectors. I actually got here maybe ten minutes ago."

Moving to lean against Chakwas' desk as she went back to continue her work at the terminal, Mathias nodded. "I remember that. You should have seen what we found on Horizon. Say, Shepard, how did we do?"

"The Collectors still managed to escape with one-third of the colony's population, but it's progress because they didn't get everyone like the last colonies." Referring to the information on the data pad Miranda handed him, Shepard spoke calmly. Mathias noticed his eyes constantly shifting back to Tali as she stood by listening. It made Mathias feel strangely uncomfortable. "You said something about your father's killer earlier, right?" Tali left and returned to the lower deck.

Mathias perked up. "I know where my father's murderer is. I want to find him and rip his throat out."

Shepard checked his omni-tool. "That's right, you wanted to go after a cult called 'Kingdom of Illumination'. Miranda sent me a form so I have a pretty good idea of what we're after, but I would like to know about what happened in the first place."

Oh boy. Unable to say a word for a few seconds, Mathias simply looked around somewhat disappointedly, then looked at the small Infinity symbol tattooed to his wrist, the one he got just a day before his father's death. Noticing where Mathias was looking, Shepard approached and looked at the small, black tattoo for himself.

Mathias took a deep breath. "I woke up one morning to find my hands bound behind my back. The cult had kidnapped my father and I over night for one of their mad fucked rituals. They said their ritual called for 'an incubus ripe for the killing' as well as a 'sacrifice begging for an eternal sleep'. They found exactly what they were looking for… The 'incubus' and his seventeen year-old son." Mathias painfully recalled his past as he went and sat back down on one of the beds in the Medical Bay and Shepard followed. It felt somewhat odd, a person of authority offering friendship and a listening ear particularly because Mathias felt that Shepard was all business. It was an unusual feeling, but it was a good one.

Shepard kept his attention turned to Mathias who simply looked forward as they sat together on the bed. "They forced me watch as they killed him… They cut his throat. I still remember hearing my father's dying breaths as they howled and laughed, all so that I would plead for them to kill me, then they knocked me out."

The expression on Shepard's face was one of abhorrence. The idea of such unnecessary brutality for ridiculous reasons repulsed him and made him want to help Mathias avenge his father's death even more. "You mean they murdered your father just to deteriorate your mental state? What did they hope to gain from killing you like that?"

A tear dropped from Mathias' eye and he brushed his face dry as more tears appeared. "To satisfy their bullshit gods." He started to sniffle and felt the overwhelming need to lean on Shepard's shoulder, surprised to find that Shepard allowed him to do so, even allowing Mathias to hold onto his arm. "My father was the only person who gave me hope. There would be days where I could barely function because I was so depressed, he'd hold me close and tell me that I'd never be alone and I could always come back to him. I miss him so much."

They sat on the bed silent for a moment, allowing Mathias to collect his emotions. He let go of Shepard's arm, sat up straight and wiped his eyes. "I don't remember how I escaped, all I remember about that is I killed all of the cult members… Except for the one who killed my father, the leader of the cult named 'Moray', and he's within my grasp. I will prove to him that I don't forget and can be very dangerous when you fuck with me."

Doctor Chakwas continued to work silently at her computer terminal, listening to their conversation. It didn't bother Mathias in the slightest and Shepard didn't seem to care either. "We've all experienced loss. It's inevitable, but it seems you took it really hard. You're not quite what I expected, Mathias. I honestly didn't realize you had a side like this." Shepard's voice contributed to Mathias' relaxation as he sniffled for the last time.

"There's a lot you don't know about me." Mathias' voice began to stabilize. "I don't like to show this side of myself because it's shameful and weak, that's why I act as aggressively as I do." Mathias was about to open his mouth again to speak, but Shepard stopped him.

"You need to be aggressive when we're fighting, but you don't want to bottle up your emotions like this. Did you talk to Kelly Chambers earlier, like I suggested?" Shepard said as he watched Garrus walk from the Forward Battery to the elevator. Mathias could feel his mood quickly improving - Shepard was right, he had to open up from time to time but it was not an easy thing to do since he felt little trust for other people, but the few things Shepard had done brought Mathias close enough to trust him.

"Yeah, I talked to her. It helped a little bit but I swear, by killing that bastard I'll have a massive weight taken off my shoulders."

Shepard got up and offered a hand to Mathias who took it and pulled himself up off the bed. "You ready to go find him?" Mathias' face lit up and he nodded giddily, then they left the Medical Bay and went up the elevator to Deck Two, suiting up in Jacob's Armoury.

Mathias followed Shepard to his terminal beside the Normandy's holographic galaxy map and Kelly Chambers. Shepard reached for the intercom button but Mathias stopped him by lightly grabbing his arm. "Can Garrus come?" He asked Shepard, who nodded and called the turian. Garrus appeared from the ship's cockpit after finishing his conversation with the helmsman Joker.

"Shepard." Garrus acknowledged as he passed by and got additional equipment from Jacob's Armoury. Mathias watched the door, impatiently waiting for him to come back out. Shepard went to the galaxy map and plotted a location in the control pad, receiving a confirmation to go to Earth from Joker as Garrus returned with three heavy weapons.

The three grouped up just below the galaxy map. "Shepard, where are we headed?" Garrus asked inspecting his favourite sniper rifle, the one he used on Omega to kill mercenaries. Butterflies filled Mathias' stomach as he listened to the ship's muted propulsion systems and felt the vertigo from moving many times faster than the speed of light. He watched through the cockpit windows as the ship slowed down before a Mass Relay, then as a wormhole appeared around them.

"We're headed to the Calgary-Edmonton Metropolis on Earth. We're hunting down Mathias' father's killer. His last known location is at a dense shopping mall in Calgary." Shepard looked at his omni-tool then signalled for the two to follow him into the elevator. He continued, "The killer's name is Moray, a human running a cult called the Kingdom of Illumination. He knows we're on his tail and has a contact named Altimus, a turian who helps people 'disappear'. We think that's what he was doing at the shopping centre."

"Hmph. Mathias told me about what happened. I look forward to making this 'Moray' pay for what he did." Garrus remarked eliciting a mischievous smirk from Mathias who felt warm inside thanks to the knowledge that there _really_ were people out there who cared, and that they were right there with him. The elevator doors opened and they entered a shuttle with a human pilot.

Adrenaline pumped through Mathias' veins as the shuttle departed the Normandy. Mathias looked at his heavy pistol - the one that would fire the fatal shot. Out the window, they saw the great Calgary-Edmonton Metropolis appear, shining in the bright summer sun, a great urban area stretching very long distances rivaled Earth's other great cities like the Texan Megapolis and the Vancouver-Seattle Metropolis.

Garrus in particular seemed in awe. Even at their altitude, the city was clearly vibrant and lively. They descended down, near the five-hundred storey tower that was considered to be the tallest in the galaxy. It was red with purple neon lights going up the full height and had a central tower surrounded by three shorter towers. "I always thought Earth was run-down. My impression of your homeworld wasn't very good even though I had never been there. I'm surprised to see that a metropolis of this size isn't smog-choked." He said.

"Hah." Mathias blurted, keeping his eyes trained out the window as he watched city buildings pass by, seeing the historical Bow Tower and Peace Bridge. He laughed at how the Bow Tower was dwarfed by many of the other towers. "It's clear there's lots you don't know about us. The Calgary-Edmonton Metropolis is basically one big tourist trap. It's wealthy and full of rich dicks."

Shepard listened intently as Garrus opened his mouth. "Just how many people live here?"

Looking to the roof of the shuttle for a few seconds as he crunched his lips, Mathias thought for a second. "I'm pretty sure Calgary itself has something like fifteen million people?" Garrus looked bewildered. "That's just Calgary, though. Edmonton has about six million people and the other cities and towns around them have a total of about three million, but it's basically like one big city with twenty-four million." Mathias frowned. "It's going to be one person less, though."

The shuttle landed in a busy parking lot, full of street cars and sky shuttles. They stepped out of their shuttle and saw the magnificent shopping mall, a massive glass and neon building reaching fourteen floors into the sky. The building clearly identified itself as "Chinook Centre" in bright red neon lights, accenting the blue and purple neons decorating the structure's curves, ridges and angles. Off in the distance, Mathias saw the five-hundred storey UNAS tower, a red building with a height rivalling mountains, with its own neon lights clearly visible even from their point. They approached the mall keeping in mind the turian contact they were looking for. Altimus was last spotted here five minutes ago, a report stated on Shepard's omni-tool. They entered the building and marvelled at the building's grand atrium, reaching up the full fourteen high floors and approached the grand rotunda where embedded in the floor was a time capsule.

Shepard examined it, reading the digital clock on it. "When is it supposed to be opened?"

Crouching down, Mathias examined it, eyes darting around every few seconds looking for Altimus, his heart beating fast. Garrus stood by. "If I recall correctly it's not to be opened until the year 2999." He looked at the digital numbers - July of 2185, four-twenty-six in the afternoon, as well as the mall's precise location on Earth.

Garrus sighed. "I don't know if we'll make it that far."

They got moving again, following a previously known location on their omni-tools. They approached a small resting area where the turian Altimus was last seen. Based on the dossier, Mathias kept a sharp eye out for him, finally seeing the barefaced turian walking alone and acting inconspicuously back to the front of the mall. He rushed towards him with Garrus and Shepard catching up to him after realizing what was going on, and he grabbed the turian by the collar, hauling him into a small nearby corridor and then into a lavishly accented men's restroom.

Mathias slammed the startled turian against a wall and held him off the floor with Shepard and Garrus behind him. "Do you know someone named 'Moray'?" He asked harshly, his red eyes burning into Altimus' terrified green eyes. Mathias' face automatically snarled and burned from the excitement.

The turian didn't respond for a few seconds, enough for Mathias to inflict more pain by throwing him to the floor, then picking him up again. "Answer me!"

"I-I don't know who…" Altimus swallowed quite audibly. "I don't know who that is!" He stuttered. Mathias punched him in the face making blue blood drip from his nose and a tooth fall out. "I swear!"

Mathias backed up and rammed Altimus against the wall again, not paying attention to a startled human looking at them oddly, then running out of the washroom. "Don't fucking lie to me. You dealt with a human male named Moray today. I want to know where he is." Mathias grabbed onto one of Altimus' mandibles, keeping him suspended with the other arm. He started to pull the mandible to the side making Altimus squeal.

"I don't know… Where!"

Alarmed, Shepard and Garrus kept their distance as Mathias threw Altimus through a toilet stall, breaking down the door. He approached the turian and picked him up again, pressing his head into the toilet, then pulling him back out. "Tell me or I'll strangle you with your lower intestine!" Out of anger, Mathias' biotics began flaring up but they were unusually red in comparison to the normal blue colour. It was powerful enough to emit a low rumble as well as cause quite noticeable tremors in the floor. They were powerful enough to cause panic outside the washroom and Garrus noted several human women and one asari running from the other bathroom further down the hall but Mathias paid it no mind. Alarms began sounding throughout the mall.

Altimus gasped for air as blue blood dripped down his face. He struggled to get away but Mathias effortlessly kept him down with his immense strength. "Please! Let me go!" The toilet collapsed to the floor from the damage Mathias had caused it.

The mirror above the bathroom sinks shattered when Mathias threw Altimus against it, his biotics flaring more and more, tremors growing and a strange static sensation filling the room. He approached the turian lying on the floor and pressed his foot down on his neck as the turian tried to lessen the pressure unsuccessfully. "If you don't tell me, I will draw out your death and make you want me to end it."

Struggling to breathe, Altimus relented. "Okay!" Mathias lifted his foot off Altimus' neck and picked him back up, pushing him back against the wall again.

"Where is Moray?" Mathias noticed Shepard's somewhat startled expression, but turned back to Altimus who was breathing heavily. The turian was also shaking quite visibly.

"He… I sent him to a private hotel room in the Bow Tower. Fifty-sixth floor, room fifty-six-o-six." Mathias smiled maniacally, letting the turian go but not before he slammed his knee into Altimus' groin, making him cower down on the floor in pain. After his biotics calmed down, he washed off the turian's blue blood at one of the sinks then left the bathroom and walked back into the busy shopping area, seeing startled patrons running for the exit in response to the building's alarms.

"Was that really necessary, Mathias? What if he was telling the truth, that he really didn't know?" Shepard asked, walking beside him and Garrus.

Without turning his gaze to Shepard, Mathias responded walking briskly out the mall's front entrance. "Vampires have very powerful senses. I have no trouble telling when someone's lying, believe me. Even if they're subtle. The signs are the same for most species." They noted the panicked crowd that had formed in the parking lot and weaved their way through, reaching a busy six-lane street adjacent to the mall's lot. The black solar panels layering the road glimmered in the bright sun, interrupted by passing vehicles.

Garrus noted the large crowd that quickly grew as more people fled the mall. "What's this all about?" He asked bewildered. Shepard apparently seemed confused as well, but began researching the location of the Bow Tower.

Mathias shook his head and crossed his arms. "That was probably my doing." He pointed in the direction of the Bow Tower for Shepard, barely visible behind the other massive skyscrapers. "I guess my biotics are so powerful that when I get angry enough I uncontrollably make the ground around me shake. Must've set of seismic alarms in the building."

A few beeps and the Bow's location was marked and they got onto a street bus heading its way. "Is the Calgary-Edmonton Metropolis an earthquake zone?" Shepard asked, standing and holding a support post while Mathias and Garrus sat beside each other on a seat.

"It is now." Mathias said looking out the tinted window. The low, electronic hum of the bus was pleasing to his ears and the smooth ride pleasing to his body. Though full, the bus was quiet.

Garrus turned his head and fixed his eyes with Mathias. "It is _now_? You mean it wasn't before?"

Nodding his head, Mathias looked anxiously out the window as they got closer to Calgary's Old Downtown. He saw the blue, crescent-shaped Bow Tower come into view, accented by recently installed vertical blue neon lights. "A new faultline ripped through the whole Metropolis, from north to south about fifty kilometres underground. That happened five years ago, and I was there when it happened. Before, this region was essentially earthquake-free, and that's part of what made the area so desirable when compared to Los Angeles, Vancouver, Seattle or even New York City or Toronto."

As the bus passed a building under construction, Shepard noted another building in the process of being deconstructed. "I remember hearing about that. It must have been pretty terrifying. I'm from Vancouver, I know what that's like." Shepard said.

"It wasn't fun, let me tell you." Mathias almost laughed, not quieting down even though the full bus was relatively quiet. He didn't care who heard them and he didn't care what they thought of them. "I was just cleaning up after some 'alone time' and all of the sudden the ground was shaking, really hard." He pointed to a set of two towers off in the distance. "There's The Guardian Towers over there - I live on the fortieth floor of the south tower. It's not a fun situation up there, and I'm tempted to move. The tower swayed for almost an hour after the shock. That building they're taking down was a skyscraper with eighty floors. They considered it to be 'too risky' to inhabit after the earthquake so they're basically taking it apart to build something else."

The bus made a turn at a road block, causing the restless Mathias to simply force his way off in irritation with Shepard and Garrus following. They were close enough that walking wouldn't be an issue, but a somewhat minor issue stood in their way - the road ahead of them going east to west was completely crowded. A parade. Mathias simply growled and pushed through the crowd and past several parade floats with Shepard and Garrus. Loud band music and the cheering and clapping of thousands filled his ears. Hurrying, they made it to the other side of the street and past the rest of the observers.

Garrus noted the disproportionately large amount of turians among the spectators. "What are they celebrating?" The crowd, while mostly human, was very diverse with many asari, a few quarians, lots of turians and even a reptilian drell.

They passed the large metal weave head decorating the plaza before the tall crescent structure and entered the lobby of the Bow Tower. "The 273rd annual Stampede. Krograns _really_ like the rodeo." Mathias said with little apparent emotion, passing a security checkpoint headed for the elevator. Security guards attempted to stop Mathias but he threw them back with his biotics. Several more then rushed towards the three with guns drawn and just as Mathias was about to obliterate them into dust with his biotic power, Shepard held up his hands ordering them to all stop, especially Mathias.

"Everyone, stand down!" Shepard commanded, seeing Mathias' biotics cool down but his angry expression not change. The security guards lowered their weapons and attempted to apprehend the three, but stopped when one of the guards suddenly recognized Shepard.

The guard scanned him with his omni-tool. "You… You really are Commander Shepard!" He sounded quite excited and motioned for the other guards to back off. "What are you doing here?" The fat, balding human had a smile stretched across his face.

Shepard returned to a more relaxed stance, but remained stern. "I'm on an important mission. Part of that mission involves me helping a friend here and I'm not going to allow anyone to stand in my way. I am authorized to do what is necessary for the success of my mission." He stared the guard down but the guard's friendly demeanor did not change.

The guard authorized Shepard, Garrus and Mathias to enter the building with his omni-tool. "Sure, whatever you need, just ask... And I must say it truly is an honour to meet you Shepard, the saviour of the Citadel!"

Mathias rolled his eyes and the three walked quickly towards the building's elevators without saying a final word to the guard. Garrus pressed the button to call the elevator.

"Mathias, you remember which room we're headed to, right?" Shepard asked as the doors whisked open and the three entered. Mathias hit the button for the fifty-sixth floor and nodded. He paced back and forth in the elevator as it quickly ascended the tower, making their ears pop as they went up. The lights were cool and the walls pleasantly decorated. Mathias watched the floor counter as it quickly counted up, but started slowing down before the fortieth floor, stopping at floor thirty-nine.

"No, no, no, no, no! What the fuck?" Mathias began pounding on the elevator button for the fifty-sixth floor but the doors glided open, allowing two human executives to enter. They pressed the button for the fifty-eighth floor. As the doors closed and the elevator started going up again, Mathias' heavy breathing caught the attention of the two human executives, who looked at him to find him glowering at them. Mathias knew he was making them nervous and he made it known. They tried not to make eye contact with him but his unusual appearance prevented them from looking away.

The elevator stopped at the fifty-sixth floor, Shepard and Garrus exiting. They started towards room fifty-six-o-six but realized Mathias wasn't behind them. They turned around again to see him exiting the elevator with the two executives leaving and running in the opposite direction. Mathias walked ambly and heavily, walking ahead of Shepard and Garrus, searching each door, finding the room fifty-six-o-six was in the other direction. He hastily turned around and started jogging down the hall, finding room fifty-six-o-six. He stopped before it, breathing heavily, sweating, heart pounding and hands curled into fists. Shepard and Garrus stood on either side of him.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Garrus lightly asked in a way to make Mathias feel more empowered. Mathias looked at Garrus for a split second then back at the door, readying his biotics. With a loud slam, the door burst open, flying back all the way to the end of the hotel room. Mathias, Shepard and Garrus all stormed in, seeing the room empty. The bed was unkempt, like someone had slept in it recently. Garrus and Shepard skulked around with their weapons aimed as Mathias began ripping the room apart in search for Moray. He flipped the bed upside down quite literally, still not finding him but a sound coming from behind caught his attention. As he turned around, he saw a figure dart out the room, from in behind the bathroom door.

Without hesitating, Mathias dashed out of the room, sprinting after the man who had left. "Come back here, you fat bearded bitch!" The human bolted into an elevator and pressed a button on the control panel, waving at him tantalizingly as the doors closed. Mathias slammed into them, pressing the elevator call button many times in quick succession, Garrus and Shepard catching up close behind. Frenzied, Mathias forced the doors open, only to see the elevator going down. Without thinking, he jumped into the elevator shaft and landed on the elevator several metres below. He began forcing the emergency exit open on the top of the elevator just as it stopped.

He ripped the emergency exit open and dropped down into the elevator, seeing Moray running off around a corner. Mathias followed, seeing him bolt for the Bow's staircase. Moray wrapped a chain around the door handles in the hopes that it would prevent Mathias from getting through but Mathias smashed the window on one of the double doors and ripped the chains off then flung the door open nearly tearing it off its hinges and running after Moray.

Moray was already a couple floors below Mathias, but Mathias could see Moray in between the levels. He watched Moray exit the stairwell onto the thirty-second floor and he simply jumped in between the sets of stairs, blowing through the door. Moray had entered another elevator and was already on his way down again and like last time, Mathias forced the doors open but instead of jumping directly onto the elevator he quietly gripped on the ropes taking the elevator down and descended with it. The elevator continued down until it hit the ground level where Mathias ripped open the emergency exit again, this time tearing it completely off. He dropped into the elevator and rushed out, knocking another person to his feet.

Seeing Moray making a mad dash for the building's main exit, Mathias sprinted after him, gaining on him quickly. Even though his metal armour was heavy, it did not slow him down. "Your time is running short, Moray!" Mathias yelled, garnering stares from the other people inside the Bow's lobby. Garrus and Shepard chased after Mathias and Moray after exiting another elevator but they had to catch up.

Moray blew past the revolving doors where Mathias merely ran through the glass, falling on the ground outside. Picking himself up he continued chasing Moray as he hastily entered a street car, started the engine and sped off. Mathias stopped helplessly where Moray's SUV once was. "Fuck!" He yelled, but was surprised to see the Normandy shuttle that previously dropped them off stop and allow him, Shepard and Garrus to enter. When they did, the shuttle hurried after the black luxury SUV. Mathias moved over to the front of the shuttle to keep an eye on the vehicle himself.

"I knew there was going to be a chase. I had the shuttle come and pick us up." Shepard said, also moving to the front along with Garrus. Mathias didn't appear to acknowledge but he silently thanked the Commander, keeping his gaze trained on the speeding SUV. He watched it make many daring and illegal moves as it attempted to evade the hunting shuttle.

The pilot nimbly weaved the shuttle in between buildings keeping precise control over the vehicle, but backed off and engaged stealth systems to possibly make Moray think they let go. The trick worked, and Moray began driving more normally after several minutes, but they kept on his tail until they reached an industrial area. Mathias watched the SUV drive into a warehouse that looked somewhat run-down and they lowered down in an inconspicuous area to avoid being seen. Quietly, Shepard, Garrus and Mathias exited the vehicle and slowly approached the warehouse with their weapons drawn. Looking all around them, Shepard led the way with Mathias close behind, heart thumping, almost hard enough for Shepard and Garrus to hear. They opened the building's small door several metres from the garage door and found a small corridor. They followed it, hearing nothing but silence. Light illuminated through an open door and they found a small room with an old television and a mattress on the floor, as well as an old computer. The computer was sitting at the Kingdom of Illumination's extranet page. Mathias picked it up and threw it to the floor, spurring a cult member to investigate. As soon as the human male entered, Mathias shot him square in between the eyes, the body falling to the floor with a thud. Garrus and Shepard readied for a fight, as they walked through the door across from the hallway entrance they walked in through.

Once in the next room, a make-shift kitchen, several more cultists entered, firing at them. Shepard, Garrus and Mathias took cover in behind a counter, returning fire. Each of the cultists died in succession and once they were all dead, the trio moved across the kitchen and into another corridor. Seeing to their right was a dead end, they went left and entered into a cheap entertainment room, killing the three cultists that were looking for their weapons. Mathias led the way into a communal bedroom, executing four cultists while they laid in their beds.

"Shit, they're here! Don't let them get me!" Mathias heard in the distance. He wasn't sure if either Shepard or Garrus heard it, so he led them down another corridor, past one corner and into a small gathering room where a heavily armoured cultist appeared, firing a grenade launcher at them.

"Heavy weapon!" Garrus called, pulling out his sniper rifle. In response, Mathias put up a biotic shield around all three of them and they each took cover in behind three of the several pillars in the gathering room. They fired rapidly at the cultist, taking down his shields. Once his shields were no more, Shepard lifted the cultist into the air with his biotics and slammed him down onto the ground with a heavy crunch. Seeing the cultist was dead, Mathias rushed towards the source of heavy breathing, through one last corridor and into a large room with a high ceiling. He saw the expensive looking SUV Moray had been driving, but upon looking to his left, what Mathias saw nearly caused him lose control over his bowels.

Mathias dropped his weapon and stood confounded, shocked and hysterical. Something he thought was never possible, stood not even five metres in front of him. Not only was it Moray, it was also Mathias' father - emaciated and frail, but alive.

Wide-eyed and mouth agape, Mathias stood in shock and awe. He swore his father died twenty-three years ago, they had cut his throat! But no, here he sat with his hands and wings bound, Mathias' pureblooded father barely even looked up at him with his orange eyes that barely even glowed anymore. Moray was pointing a heavy pistol at his father's head as he stood beside him.

"Drop the gun!" Shepard ordered, but Moray simply ignored. Mathias could clearly see Moray palpitating so much that even with his gun against his father's horned head he'd probably still miss. "Drop it now!" Shepard repeated as he stayed still. Mathias began to slowly approach, unsure of what to think.

Moray's heart rate was faster than Mathias had ever seen before. "Don't you come near me!" Moray yelled, backing off himself. "I'll shoot him, kill him like I should have!"

"What are you doing with him?" Garrus asked cooly.

Moray's breathing got heavier. "He was a sacrifice, but I realized that if I kept him he'd be a trophy, a testament to my…" Moray huffed. "To my strength! Almachi and Senia will reward me for it!"

Mathias picked his jaw up off the floor and flared up his biotics, picking Moray up off the floor from three metres away, leaving him incapacitated. He brought the cult leader closer to him and dropped him to the floor. Before Moray could recollect himself, Mathias pinned him to the ground with his left hand firmly placed on Moray's throat. He watched as the weakling struggled to remove it.

"I swore to myself that I would kill you since the day I escaped. You thought you'd live free? I'm living proof that your past can be your worst nightmare!" Spitting in Moray's face, Mathias growled, his voice low and vicious. His chest was hot, the moment he had waited twenty-three years for finally now in front of him.

"My past?" Moray choked, his blond hair dirty from not being washed for a while. "You were not meant to be in my past. Who are you?"

Mathias snarled at him, keeping his luminous crimson eyes trained on Moray's bright blue eyes. "I'm 'the sacrifice to be begging for eternal sleep'. That over there, is 'the incubus ripe for the killing'. I am his son, and you will die for what you did to us."

Mathias watched Moray's eyes widen. "The one who escaped…" He whispered. Shepard and Garrus, still with their weapons pointed at Moray but watching over the area, kept tabs on what was happening. With his biotics, Mathias lifted Moray into the air and put a biotic shield around himself, his father, Shepard and Garrus to prevent a mess of blood from hitting them when he eventually ripped Moray in half. Once the two halves of Moray's body were on the floor, Mathias took down the shield and dissolved the body with his biotics, the blood disappearing shortly after, leaving no evidence behind of the brutal killing.

The fury left Mathias' body when he looked over and saw his debilitated and drained father, sitting limply on the floor with his hands bound behind his back. It drew heavy tears from Mathias' eyes - his father, someone he saw as stronger than the galaxy, bulkier and more muscular than other pureblooded vampires, tough and brave beyond imagination, sat on the floor weak and tired. Mathias couldn't imagine the immense torture and pain he endured for the past twenty-three years.

As Mathias ran over to his father, Shepard and Garrus approached. Mathias lifted his father's muzzle to look into his orange eyes that used to be so bright they could be seen for a long time away in the dark. His father's sad eyes searched Mathias. "Are… You here to… Take me out of my misery?" He asked.

Choking on his own anguish, Mathias embraced the pureblooded vampire and let himself cry. "Don't you remember me?" He whimpered. Shepard placed a hand on the back of Mathias' head in hopes it would help comfort him. "It's your son… Mathias von Del-"

Mathias' father perked up with a sudden bout of energy, ripping the binds off his wrists and standing up, sweeping Mathias into his arms. "Mathias? Is that really you? Holy shit, oh my god it is you!" Garrus and Shepard stood, taken aback. Even in his weakened state, Mathias' father was still a massive creature, being well over three hundred centimetres tall. Other signs of neglect included his pale red skin and a complete lack of clothing, besides a loincloth. .

Stroking Mathias' cheek, his father held him like a baby giving him a small kiss on the forehead. Shepard thought it was kind of funny, seeing someone normally so strong, bold and dominant being so genial, cuddly and sweet. He could still hear Mathias' soft weeping. Seeing the two reunited was rather endearing. The pureblooded vampire put Mathias back on the ground.

"Who are you?" The weakened pureblood vampire asked Shepard and Garrus gingerly as he gently sat back down on the ground again, rubbing his forehead but keeping his eyes trained on the two.

Shepard stepped forward. "I am Commander Shepard of the Normandy SR-2, and this is another one of my crew, Garrus Vakarian. I take it you're Mathias' father?"

Mathias' father stared at Shepard blankly for a second. Mathias kept his head turned down as he sat on the floor too, unsure of what to think. "I am Rodon von Delacroix, the father of Mathias. Has… Has he told you…" Rodon coughed. "Has he told you about me?" Even despite his weakened state, Rodon's voice was incredibly and monstrously deep.

Shepard nodded. "He must be very happy to discover you're still alive." Shepard pressed his fingers to the earpiece attached to his visor. "Shepard to Normandy, we require a pickup at our coordinates. Prepare a space in the Medical Bay, we have a big patient. Make sure Mordin is ready."

Mathias sniffled and shook, sitting on the warehouse floor. He automatically scooted over and leaned against his father's side, who took him in under his arm.


	7. Public Assassination

"You have no idea what this means to me, Garrus. I won't forget it." Mathias kept his eyes trained on his father, hooked up to several machines, lying asleep across four medical beds. He watched as nutrients were pumped into his body through a clear tube. "Tell Shepard that I owe him my life." Stretching, Mathias yawned after having slept for several hours. His normal nocturnal sleeping schedule had been really randomized.

Garrus turned his torso around, looking at the door to the Medical Bay, then turned back to Mathias. "I know you'd do the same for me, but I think you can say that to him yourself." Garrus stepped aside and allowed Shepard to stand beside Mathias who sat on a chair, pulled up next to his father on the beds. Mordin checked the readings on the machines Rodon was attached to and Doctor Chakwas handed him a data pad to examine. Mathias looked up to Shepard and examined his blue eyes.

"I take it a massive weight has been lifted." Shepard started, looking over the massive demon-like creature, marvelling at his quickly improving form. Rodon was no longer skeletal, and not only did a lot of his necessary body fat return, a lot of his muscle mass returned as well. "We're headed to the Citadel, then a city called Nos Astra on Illium, there's two more recruits queued up. You think you're up to the challenge, two missions in one go?"

Mordin turned down the power on the machines to a lower level and removed two tubes, leaving the others. "Rodon improving quickly. Impressive - happened to be studying vampires after you left for Calgary-Edmonton Metropolis. Never seen such a creature before, joining Shepard's mission an incredible opportunity." The salarian examined Rodon's x-rays and a set of two double helixes that made up Rodon's DNA on a screen. "Pureblood vampires, such fascinating creatures. Hunted for millennia by religious humans, thought they were demons, prized their horns. Mathias' abilities already impressive, but purebloods are so much more. No other creature like them exists elsewhere, even more robust than Krogan, than Grunt in lower deck. Quick recovery inevitable, nearly ready. Completely disease free - vampire robustness something to study."

Looking at his father one last time, Mathias stood up. "Shepard, for what you have done for me, I will fight by your side, into hell and back. I will be there for you when the Reapers come and if need be, I will die by your side." Shepard nodded in affirmation and Mathias sat back down, watching his father take a deep breath in his state of sleep. He imagined it had been the most comfortable sleep he had in years.

The Medical Bay doors opened and an energetic purple-suited Tali sauntered in, her bubbly voice calling everyone's attention. "Hey Shepard, I heard you found an-" She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Rodon occupying the four beds. "An interesting creature."

Shepard turned to face her. "Curiosity is what brought you here, I take it?" He asked, smiling pleasantly. Tali moved closer to the beds slowly and timidly, keeping her eyes cautiously trained on Rodon who lie still with his eyes closed, breathing gently.

"Yes…" She examined the creature's massive form and neatly folded wings. In her mind, Tali began piecing together the conversation she had with Mathias when they were leaving Freedom's Progress. "This is a pureblood vampire?"

"This monster… Is my father." Mathias somewhat snidely remarked, causing Shepard to frown and shake his head at Mathias, who sighed. "Yes, this is a pureblood vampire." Mathias could see her furrowing her brow behind her purple mask.

Tali shrugged. "Wait, how does that even work?" Confused, her eyes shifted between Mathias and Rodon repeatedly. Shepard, Garrus, Tali, Chakwas and Mordin all patiently waited for Mathias to respond as he watched Miranda leave her office and walk over to where the ship elevator and bathrooms were. They waited patiently to see what Mathias would say.

An impish sneer outlined Mathias' face. "Well, when a man loves a woman very much, they go into bed without clothes-" Shepard stopped him, almost laughing himself.

"I think she's wondering how you're _his_ offspring." Shepard said looking towards Tali who nodded her head. Mathias looked around, unsure of how to answer the question, since it was such an unusual one. The fact that a creature with a completely inhuman appearance could father offspring that look nothing like him was certainly an interesting topic. Shepard furrowed his brow. "That is, if you really are his biological son."

"Oh, I'm biologically his child, alright. The reason I look like a human is because I had a human mother. I never knew her because she died giving birth to me. Apparently, there's a high risk of complications with human mothers to the children of pureblood vampires." Mathias explained, recalling the images of his mother, a beautiful Italian woman with golden locks and hazel eyes. He remembered how his father explained to him that it was his mother who chose the name 'Mathias' for him if he were to be a boy. The other option, Elvira was to be used if instead it were a female child. Quinn was another option they had toyed with, but Mathias thanked them for naming him what they did. He continued, "I'm the first halfbreed on my father's side. The rest are all pureblooded vampires."

Mordin stopped examining the machines and faced the others for a bit. "Pureblood vampires and humans closely related, a part of the same _homo_ genus. Close enough to interbreed, producing halfbreed vampires like Mathias." Mordin shut down one more machine then turned down the power level of another. "Actually how halfbreed vampires first came into existence. Vampires by bites came after. Reason pureblood vampires look so different: Evolved in a hot, hostile and mountainous environment. Horns a display of sexual maturity and prowess in primitive vampires, but still many unanswered questions."

"How will he be?" Unusually, Mathias' voice was light and concerned unlike his normal tone which was often sarcastic, emotionless and sometimes condescending. His brow was pointed up as he looked at Mordin, pondering him for answers and mind racing around in circles.

"Will have to undergo rigorous counselling and mental treatments. Likely very traumatized." Responding quickly, Mordin notified Kelly Chambers to come down to the Medical Bay as Rodon would doubtlessly be waking up soon. Mathias looked forward to being able to have a conversation with his father for the first time in years, but Mordin's suggestion that he may be incoherent disappointed him.

A beeping notification alerted Shepard to the fact that the Normandy had docked on the Zakera Ward of the Citadel and he waved over Mathias and Garrus to follow him. Hesitantly, Mathias got up and rested his hand on the top of Rodon's head for a second then followed Shepard quickly, walking briskly beside Garrus. They entered the ship elevator, Mathias looking into the Medical Bay longingly. "I had Jacob ready your suits in the airlock. Even though we're just making a quick visit to Councilor Anderson, I want to be prepared regardless."

"What is it for?" Slowly, Mathias asked as he followed Shepard and Garrus out of the elevator. Having to deal with politics disappointed Mathias because it was so boring and uninteresting, and he didn't much want to leave his father behind. Give him a gun and he'll take care of business and probably entertain himself at the same time.

Shepard chuckled quietly to himself. "Anderson messaged me, asking me to meet him on the Presidium on the Citadel a number of days ago. Actually, before we had picked you up for the mission. I had to hold off until now." They entered the ship's airlock, suited up, armed and decontaminated themselves, then stepped off the top-of-the-line frigate and into the docking area where a line before Citadel Customs had developed. It appeared that two asari were arguing with the human attendant, angry that they were preventing them access because, as the human woman explained, they were suspicious the asari were allowing for Geth infiltration. The human attendant waved Shepard, Garrus and Mathias over to the door and opened it for them, causing the two irate asari to yell and swear angrily in response, aggravating the human as she tried remaining calm and collected but it caused Mathias to laugh a little louder than he would have liked. He saw their shocked expressions directed at him as the door whisked closed again.

"My position does have its perks. Fortunately, I was able to establish myself here already." Stopping at a body scan before a second door, Shepard joked but his smile faded. "We have to head to the Presidium. Anderson will be waiting for us."

Mathias sighed as they entered the second door, seeing the busy plaza and bright neon lights of the Zakera Ward. He recalled his stay at the cheap hotel on the upper levels as Shepard, Mathias and Garrus stopped before a holographic asari introducing itself as 'Avina'. Its high-pitched, grating and penetrating voice made Mathias want to throw it down the atrium it stood before because it made his skin crawl so significantly.

Leaning against the railing guarding the atrium to a lower level, Mathias looked around the busy plaza and watched as humans, turians, asari and salarians congregated and moved between shops. The Citadel reminded him of one big shopping mall. All this technological prowess, and what do you build with it? A giant shopping mall in space, but Mathias wasn't complaining. "I figured you might want some shore leave, Mathias." Shepard started, making Mathias' heart jump. He was going to let him do something _fun_? "Well, not really much in the way of shore leave per se, but give you a bit of a break. I'm sure what happened has gotten you wanting a bit of a break."

Mathias was already feeling relieved, knowing that his father was in good hands. It was an outcome better than expected - instead of putting his father's spirit at rest, he was actually able to save him. "I appreciate the thought Shepard, but it's really not necessary." He watched as Garrus looked towards a corridor going up one level.

"The Dark Star Lounge is just up that set of stairs. I'll buy drinks." The renegade turian suggested, searching Shepard's eyes for approval. Garrus spread his mandibles when Shepard nodded, tapping his earpiece to remind them to keep within radio contact then walked off in the other direction. Garrus and Mathias started up the stairs onto the twenty-eighth level of the building.

They walked through a set of doors and into a lobby. "Shepard's just going to let us do whatever we want?" Mathias asked as they walked into the nightclub, seeing the turian bartender serving drinks and the club's patrons dancing or sitting at tables. He and Garrus took a seat near the bartender.

"I suspect Shepard has a private matter to attend to, but I don't mind not having anything that needs doing." Garrus said, accepting two drink menus from the bartender. He handed one to Mathias and began browsing the dextro section. Mathias scanned his menu, looking through all the exotic drinks. The physical nature of the menu made him feel like the Dark Star Lounge was a classier place, as he found that the more luxurious bars and lounges often forgoed the idea of automating everything. Ah, a Bloody Mary. Mathias placed his order and watched the bartender make his drink, then Garrus' bluish-greenish drink and serve them, accepting payment from Garrus' omni-tool. Somewhat disappointedly, the drink wasn't quite as good as some of the other bars, clubs and lounges back on Earth but that didn't mean it was bad. Garrus appeared to enjoy his drink, however. Mathias suspected the bartender wasn't very familiar with human drinks.

"You were betrayed, right?"

Garrus paused for a few seconds, looking straight ahead before turning to face Mathias. "That's right. I've been meaning to speak to Shepard now that we're here on the Citadel."

"Why don't you tell me about it?"

Huffing heavily, Garrus shook his head. "I guess you deserve to know. You know how I had Eclipse, Blue Suns and Blood Pack so pissed that they teamed up to take me down?" He watched Mathias nod. "That was partly because of the betrayal. One of my squad - another turian called Lantar Sidonis drew me away from my squad for a phony lead on the Blood Pack. When I got back, all but two of my squad were dead, and they didn't last long. Sidonis was long gone by then." Garrus gulped the rest of his drink down and pushed the empty glass away, turning his look away from Mathias, instead to nothing in particular.

Confused, Mathias furrowed his brow and continued to slowly sip his drink, then put the glass down. "He drew you away so your team would be killed by the mercenaries? I don't understand - why?" Mathias shifted in his seat. The padding inside his heavy metal armour did little to provide comfort, but with the knowledge of an old ghost put to rest at the back of his mind physical comfort didn't matter.

Besides the vocalization and loud electronic music that filled the club, an unpleasant silence held in the air for a few seconds, before Garrus sighed again. "That's the thing - I don't know. He got all of my team killed besides myself and him, but I'm going to fix that. His reasoning for doing what he did is irrelevant." Garrus turned to face Mathias again, but turned his whole body instead of just his neck and crossed his arms. "I've got a lead. Much like the man you were looking for, Sidonis had a contact that went by the alias 'Fade' to help him hide. He's here on the Citadel and I know where, but I need Shepard's help."

Looking around and examining the club, Mathias paused after listening to what Garrus had to say. His eagerness to help Mathias in his own time of need was completely unexpected but entirely appreciated. The vampire empathized with the turian, knowing exactly what he was feeling and what he wanted. The neon lights pulsed in rhythm with the music and Mathias thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a pleasant change from the Normandy's monotonous and relatively colourless atmosphere and the lounge's loose and free lifestyle was a break from the business of the Cerberus frigate.

"I think it's fair that you have my help." With one side of his mouth lifted, Mathias said, finally finishing off the rest of his drink as well. Garrus nodded and they threw their opposing hands together, shaking firmly. Resting again, they ordered another round of drinks, the same as last time. "So it seems you and Shepard go back a while, I noticed back on Omega. You know him well?"

Garrus took a quick swig from his drink and recalled his relevant past. "We met in the Council Chambers in the Citadel Tower a couple years back when I was investigating a rogue Spectre. I helped him stop both Saren and the Reaper Sovereign." Mathias' brow lifted.

"You saw Sovereign first-hand? I've only seen pictures of that thing. What was it trying to do with the Citadel?" Resting his left arm on the counter, Mathias placed his right hand on his left and pointed his brow down curiously while the others in the lounge ignored the two and danced away, almost certainly high on something. Mathias could smell the narcotics in the air and they made him feel slightly off. The somewhat odd sensation made his drink taste sweeter to him.

"It was trying to open a portal for the Reapers to return. Fortunately, we killed it before anything could happen but we're almost certain they're on the march anyways. It's just going to take them longer to get here because they can't simply warp in." Garrus looked down to the floor, almost in disappointment. He clearly knew the Reaper threat was real - as did Mathias - but the turian actually had perspective in comparison. It almost seemed to Mathias that Garrus was drinking to dull the thought even though he specifically asked for an alcohol-free drink in the same way Mathias did. "I can tell you I absolutely am not looking forward to that day."

The vampire shook his head, paying specific attention to his soft bangs as they swayed back and forth. The white tips reminded him of snow-capped mountains. "I don't like the idea of the Reapers either. It's frightening - even for me, because we're dealing with an unimaginable power. Is that what Saren was doing, enabling Sovereign?" He remembered the image of Sovereign - a living machine dwarfing even the largest frigates in size and looming over the wards of the CItadel.

Shepard called Mathias and Garrus back to the Avina virtual intelligence they previously separated at and they got up and left the lounge after paying the bartender a tip. "That is _exactly_ what Saren was doing. I think Sovereign had indoctrinated him, taken over his mind. He had to be stopped." Garrus said as they descended the steps back to the twenty-seventh floor again, seeing Shepard waiting by the Avina virtual intelligence.

"Let's go." Waving them to follow, Shepard started towards the entrance they previously went through, but Garrus stopped him, watching the Commander face him.

"Shepard, there's something I need to talk to you about." Almost as excited as Mathias was, Garrus started pacing back and forth slightly, seeing Shepard was waiting for him to finish. "You know how I told you about Sidonis a couple days ago? I've got a lead, right here on the Citadel. His name is Fade and he knows where Sidonis is."

Shepard checked the time on his omni-tool, then browsed through other assignments, finally sending a message to the Normandy to let them know there was a slight change of plans. "We can spare the time. Where is this 'Fade'?"

"Hah!" Garrus' expression bloomed, his eyes flared up and he started towards the twenty-sixth level with Shepard and Mathias on either side. "I messaged C-Sec earlier and they said Fade has some contacts in the warehouses. There's one on the twenty-sixth level that I want to check out."

The trio hurried down to the twenty-sixth level. "Irasshaimase!" Shouted a Japanese food vendor as they passed by. Mathias could go for some ramen right about now. Or sushi. In fact, he realized he was feeling a little bit peckish but had to put it off as they entered a small room filled to the brim with crates. Stopping in the middle of the room, two krogan and a small, weeble volus approached the three. 'Well, that was easy,' thought Mathias as he looked down on the tiny but plump alien who was likely less than a metre tall. Shepard, Garrus and Mathias easily towered over him.

"Fade?" Shepard asked, somewhat confused. "I was expecting someone a little bit… Different."

The volus' breather filtered the air as he began to speak. "Looks... Can be deceiving." He breathed in quite audibly again. "So… Which one of you would like to disappear?" The volus' krogan bodyguards stood awkwardly with their guns in their arms as the volus approached closer to the three.

Garrus crouched down to the volus' level. "I'd rather see you make someone reappear." Mathias stepped forward with his arms crossed and stared the volus down in order to intimidate him. It worked too, seeing the volus kept looking between Garrus and Mathias. One of the floundering krogan bodyguards growled at Mathias as if to say 'back off', but he merely returned an equally deep and throaty growl.

The rate at which the volus breathed increased as he kept changing his gaze between Garrus and Mathias, he started to back off a little bit. "Uh… That's not the service… We provide." He looked to his bodyguards for reassurance but found none.

Jumping back quickly, the volus held his hands up as Garrus pointed his gun at him. "I would like you to make an exception, if you don't mind."

"Quick! Shoot them! Shoot them you lumbering mountains! Do it now!" The volus shouted at his krogran bodyguards. Before anything could happen, Mathias pulled his semi-automatic rifle and in a flash killed both bodyguards. He looked at the bodies as they slowly dropped to the floor, each producing a loud thud and Shepard shook his head, apparently in disapproval of the volus. Mathias wondered if the others on the Citadel had heard the shots.

"Not fast enough." Shepard taunted, staring the volus down who examined both dead bodyguards, disappointed. Though the volus' nerves were still running high, he didn't appear terrified or highly intimidated by the squad's weapons, still pointed at him.

"What's the point? Why do I even bother?" Dejectedly, the volus questioned rhetorically as he shrugged and backed off.

Shepard cocked his gun. "We're looking for a client of yours." He nodded towards Mathias, who jumped onto the volus and pinned him to the ground, hands wrapped around the volus' arms and knees pushing into his legs. The volus squealed as Shepard and Garrus moved around to stand over the volus' head and crouch down.

"My associate is not one to take 'no' for an answer. I'd suggest you cooperate." Though lacking aggressive inflections, Garrus' voice still menaced with the volus, who didn't even try struggling to free himself, knowing his efforts would be futile.

The volus relented. "Get off me! I'm not Fade. I'm not the one you're looking for." Mathias looked at Shepard, then got off the volus when Shepard motioned for him to relent. While impatiently waiting for the volus to get back up, Mathias got annoyed and simply picked him up by the arm and plopped him down on his feet. The volus wavered in his place, a little stunned. "I'm not the one you want to speak to."

Mathias watched as Garrus sighed and restrained himself from kicking the volus like a football. Instead of kicking him, Garrus knelt down to the volus' level again. "Well, perhaps you can tell us where to find Fade." This time, Garrus was a lot calmer and more relaxed, more so than Mathias was who wanted to beat the answer out of him. Mathias checked the door behind them, to see if anyone else was there.

"Yes, yes! I'll tell you, just don't hit me anymore." Totally submissive, the volus took a few filtered breaths tempting Mathias to hit the volus anyway out of spite but he knew Shepard probably wouldn't approve. "He's been hiding in the old prefab foundry in the factory district as of late, but he's got a lot of Blue Suns mercenaries there." Mathias and Shepard exchanged looks. "Harkin thinks they're protecting him there."

Garrus stood up fast, his face changing to one of a scowl, as far as Mathias could see. "Harkin!" The turian growled. "That bastard's helping criminals hide now?"

"Who's Harkin?" Mathias asked, almost innocently.

"He's a bloody menace, that's who. I worked with him at C-Sec a while back, but his idiocy caught up with him when they fired him. He was a bad cop then, but now he's a damn criminal." Garrus explained as the three left the warehouse entrance and headed towards a transport station, leaving the volus looking at them incredulous.

They reached the station and used a terminal to call a taxi shuttle to come and pick them up. "How the hell did Harkin end up taking on the alias 'Fade'?" Shepard asked, turning to face Garrus.

The turian shook his head. "I assume he used his knowledge of C-Sec and their systems to help himself and a few people disappear after they fired him, but it's hard to be certain. We need to find him before we can go after Sidonis because he's the only one who knows where he is."

Shepard smirked and giggled somewhat maniacally. It made Mathias do the same. "Well, I look forward to paying Harkin a visit again. I found him to be a bit of a jackass when I met him two years back."

"I'm sure he'll be excited to see the three of us." Garrus said as a shuttle dropped down to their location and allowed them entry. Shepard directed the shuttle pilot to their destination and paid him.

Their shuttle finally reached a small docking bay and the pilot let them out. Walking around the corner, the three saw a number of Blue Suns mercenaries guarding a door with an unarmed, balding human man hanging around them. Garrus saw him and instantly pulled his weapon. Shepard and Mathias did so as well, and slowly approached with their guns pointed at them, the Blue Suns mercenaries finally taking notice and pointing their guns at them as well. The unarmed man, upon noticing the trio, stood defensive. "Shepard?" The man said, likely surprised to see him.

"There he is." Shepard said as him and Harkin stared each other down.

"Don't just stand there, stop them, stop them now!" Harkin ordered, running into the warehouse. Shepard, Garrus and Mathias each took cover behind some shipping crates.

"Run all you want, Harkin! You won't get away, we'll find you!" Garrus yelled after Harkin as the mercenaries began mercilessly firing their weapons at the squad. A red hot bullet nearly grazed Mathias' head, setting off a boiling rage in his mind. The frenzied vampire stood up and charged his biotics, drawing in kinetic energy from all around him, causing the floor to tremor and a static sensation to fill the air. It was powerful enough to drain the energy from their adversary's suits and weapons - a biotic shield enveloped the three as a massive explosion destroyed the area, killing all Blue Suns mercenaries within a fifty metre radius and leaving a gaping hole in the factory wall where the doors once were. Biotics cooling, Mathias pressed on, leaving Shepard and Garrus behind rather startled.

They entered a disheveled control room that had been severely damaged by the biotic explosion, navigating through and stepping over mercenary bodies, a large shipment room came into view with crates being transported above. Harkin had clearly ordered all mercenaries in the area to be on alert for the three and many of them suddenly appeared from in behind crates scattered all around the shipment room. Shepard, Garrus and Mathias each ducked in behind their own crates and started targeting the mercenaries, realizing that several emotionless mechs were headed their way. Shepard overloaded two of their systems and ordered Garrus to do the same, while Mathias picked off the mercenaries, one by one.

A timely shot at one of the crates in transport above thanks to Shepard was enough to cause it to drop on three nearby mercenaries and explode, knocking down two others who were quickly dispatched by Garrus' sniper. After surveying the area for any remaining mercenaries and finishing off one more, the three proceeded further into the bowels of the shipping room. The area was cleared of all workers, leaving control areas in distress and chairs knocked to the floor. Mathias was focused on one thing - Harkin, who likely hid in the main control centre at the back of the massive room. He knew exactly what the turian was going through and wanted to help him get his revenge in the way he helped Mathias.

Quietly, they navigated through the maze of crates, all on edge thanks in part to the silence of living beings. The only sound in the room was that of the automated transporter moving crates from place to place. Even Mathias' sharply tuned hearing didn't pick anything up, no muffled sounds, no movement, no voices. The eeriness prompted Mathias to do something he had forgotten he could do. He motioned for Shepard and Garrus to stop and cover behind a large blue crate.

Luminous eyes were one of the key features every vampire shared, halfbreed and pureblood alike; however, the whites of Mathias' eyes turned red like his iris and glowed many times more powerfully than before. He was now able to see the aura of organic and inorganic presence through thick steel and it is from this that he plotted each target, causing the suits of all hiding mercenaries to backfire and fatally electrocute them with a painful current. The mechs activated themselves and began hopelessly searching for the three but just like the previous mercenaries, Mathias overloaded them as well. Once the area was clear, Shepard, Garrus and Mathias slowly and quietly moved forward, closer and closer to the control centre at the back of the room where Mathias could easily see a panicked Harkin pacing back and forth.

"What did you do?" Shepard asked, keeping his attention trained ahead, prepared for mercenaries to jump out at them. Garrus focused on the back control centre.

They stopped before a corner, behind another crate. Mathias peered over then hid again. "Killed all the little bastards in hiding. Turns out it's kind of hard to hide from a vampire." Mathias said just before he jumped out of cover and gunned down two approaching mercenaries. They didn't even have a chance to realize what was going on before being shot down. The three quickly but quietly moved down the small aisle and shot down two small humanoid mechs that appeared from a corner and entered a small control room shortly before a ramp leading to the primary control centre.

They dropped down a cover to open a large window. Looking out, they saw Harkin in greater detail pacing back and forth in the control centre, apparently unaware of how close they had gotten. "So, Harkin's gone completely mad." Shepard insinuated, watching the panicked man run back and forth, checking all areas of the shipping room.

Garrus leaned on the control panel. "He was always a pain in the ass, but I'm not in the mood for his games. If he doesn't cooperate, I'll beat him within an inch of his life."

"Well, let's not give him the opportunity to get away. If Harkin knows why Sidonis wanted to get away, he likely knows why we're here." Shepard said as he checked over his gun, inspecting it for any wear and tear, then reloading it. Garrus backed off the retaining wall and Mathias approached it to get a look out at the rest of the shipping room.

"I think he's getting a little fidgety." Mathias insinuated with a sly laugh. "You want me to give him a scare like noneother?"

They started towards an exit from the small control room. "Thanks, but I think I'll do that myself." With a shrewd grin, Garrus led the way out the room and started towards the ramp, but were forced into cover in the event that several shots had rung out at them. Four more Blue Suns mercenaries stood in their way, each before the ramp.

"You're never getting in here, Garrus!" Harkin shouted angrily over an intercom. He was clearly visible behind the control centre window and it was now apparent that Harkin had spotted them as they were directly in his range of sight. Mathias imagined Harkin was expecting the mercenaries to finish the squad off as well as his disappointment when the four mercenaries were easily picked off. As soon as the three began to approach the ramp, two massive, aggressive and highly dangerous mechs were dropped to the floor from above transport lines.

Dropping back down in behind the crates, Shepard, Mathias and Garrus attacked the mechs as they fired endless rounds of bullets and rockets at them, each attack being far more intense than any attack the mercenaries could have delivered. "Mathias!" Shepard shouted. Immediately, Mathias knew what Shepard wanted: A quick finish, and he intended to deliver. Just like last time, Mathias charged his biotics up creating an unpleasant static sensation in the area and within an expeditious flash, the two heavy mechs were destroyed in a blue, explosive paroxysm.

Up on top of the ramp, numerous platforms shot up, intended to prevent the squad from reaching the top. "You'll never make it!" Taunting over the speakers, Harkin was clearly pacing back and forth. The squad found a small path and went up it, jumping over the crates and ascending to the level of the rear control centre. Destroying two mechs on the top, Garrus went around the other side while Shepard and Mathias took their side. Shepard pushed the door open and saw Harkin, getting ready to turn and run. Both Shepard and Mathias pointed their guns at him. "You were close, but not close enou-" Harkin was cut off as he turned around and received the butt-end of Garrus' sniper in the face. The human shouted out as Garrus pulled him and pressed him against the wall.

Garrus' face was mere inches from Harkin's. "So, 'Fade', couldn't make yourself disappear, huh?" Mathias also approached, emitted a low, throaty growl and used his biotics to make Harkin's chest burn. Shepard approached as well.

Harkin tried to make himself sound as unfazed as possible. "Come on Garrus… It doesn't have to be like this, we can work it out. What do you need?" The sheer arrogance of the human angered Garrus even more than he already was, but he backed off for a bit and turned to face the other way. Harkin was still rubbing his bruised cheekbone.

"I'm looking for someone." Garrus said.

Rubbing his hands together, Harkin smiled devilishly. Seeing it made Mathias want to rip his entrails out through his mouth, but instead of going after him Mathias balled his hand into a fist. Harkin reminded him very much of Altimus and Moray and just like the both of them, he thought Harkin and Sidonis both needed to pay dearly. "I guess we both have something the other wants." Smugly, Harkin crossed his arms and took on a more comfortable stance.

Garrus turned around quickly, and ramming him back into the wall he slammed his knee heavily into Harkin's groin. After Garrus backed off, Harkin fell to the floor, hunched over, groaning in pain. "That had to hurt. Maybe you should just tell us what we want, and we'll get out of your hair, or lack thereof." Shepard remarked as he watched as Harkin looked back up at him torn and angry. It made Mathias laugh out loud.

Harkin simply remained keeled over on the floor without responding, out of spite. Annoyed, Mathias grabbed him and held him up off the floor with both hands by the collar. "Maybe this will loosen your lips." He said as he opened his mouth, extending his fangs to be much longer than they were then bringing Harkin in for a bite.

"Wait! Stop! Who are you looking for?" The terrified Harkin yelled just as Mathias' razor-sharp fangs were mere centimetres from his neck and carotid artery. Mathias dropped him to the floor and backed off, fangs retracting but continuing to drip a venom that would prevent the blood from clotting.

"You helped a friend of mine disappear and I need to find him. Does the name 'Lantar Sidonis' ring any bells?" Garrus ordered.

A frown covered Harkin's face. "I'm not telling you jack shit."

"Is this information really worth a nasty bite, Harkin?" Shepard said as he pointed Harkin's attention towards a maniacally smiling Mathias. Harkin examined Mathias; his porcelain snow-white skin, gaunt facial features and luminous red eyes truly made him look like the walking dead. Mathias easily transcended Harkin in height and he felt that Harkin was ready to give in.

Harkin shook his head. "I don't give out client information. It's bad for business." Apparently he wasn't ready to give in, standing his ground.

Angry, Garrus pushed him to the ground and pressed his foot down on his throat. "You know what else is bad for business? A broken neck! I won't ask again."

Harkin struggled on the floor, trying to push Garrus' foot off his neck. "Alright, alright! Get off of me!" Harkin started choking and struggling to breathe and Shepard had to lightly pull Garrus back to let him back up, staggering to his feet. "Terminus really changed you Garrus." He breathed a sigh of relief.

"No, but Sidonis opened my eyes. Now arrange a meeting." He ordered gesturing for him to go to the terminal.

The three watched as Harkin called Sidonis on a terminal, waiting for a few seconds to give him an opportunity to answer, finally receiving a response. "Sidonis? It's Fade. It's possible that your identity has been compromised." Garrus flashed his gun to make sure Harkin stayed in line and did what he was told. "I'm calling to tell you that I'm going to get one of my agents to meet you. Where do you want to meet?"

"Orbital Lounge, middle of the day." The synthesized voice asked in a hushed tone.

"Alright, he'll be there. Don't worry, I've got it covered." The call was ended by Sidonis and Harkin turned back to face Shepard, Garrus and Mathias. "He wants to meet you at the Orbital Lounge at about lunch time. So, if we're done here, I'll just be going…"

As Harkin was about to turn and take off in the other direction, Garrus grabbed him and turned him around forcefully. "I don't think so, Harkin. You're a criminal now, you're not going anywhere." His grip was firmly placed on Harkin's collar.

"So… What? You're just going to kill me? I don't think that's your style, Garrus." Harkin breathed heavily as Garrus stared him in the eyes. It was likely he was feeling largely nervous and possibly scared now.

Garrus shook his head and put Harkin down. "Kill you? You're right, but I don't mind slowing you down a little." The turian pointed his semi-automatic pistol at Harkin's leg and fired one round into him, watching him fall to the ground reeling in agony. "Maybe we'll give C-Sec a little blood trail to follow." Shepard and Mathias both looked at the anguished Harkin, unfazed.

"Bastard! What the hell?" Harkin howled as he gripped his bleeding injury.

"You're lucky Harkin. I wouldn't have shot you in the leg." Shepard taunted as they turned to leave.

Harkin grunted on the floor, still breathing heavily. "What the hell did I do to deserve that?"

"Sidonis better be there, or I'm coming back to finish the job." Threatening, Garrus said.

"If we come back, can I take his blood?" Mathias said loudly enough for Harkin to hear. He was able to hear Harkin's breaths become shaky.

As they left the control centre, Garrus glanced back at Harkin for a split second. "You can do that before we finish him off."

The workers at the prefab foundry were going to have a rather large mess to clean up when they returned, Mathias realized when he noted just how much they ripped the place apart just to get to Harkin. They headed back out to the shuttle bay and called another cab to take them to the Orbital Lounge where Sidonis would be waiting.

They waited for the taxi to come and pick them up. "Harkin's a bloody menace, we shouldn't have let him go like that. He needed to be punished." Garrus said to Shepard, watching the other civilian shuttles fly by.

"Don't bother wasting your time on him, he's not worth it. Let C-Sec deal with him. They'll find him." Shepard responded, seeing their taxi descend to pick them up. They entered and flew off.

They soon reached the Orbital Lounge and after paying the pilot, they departed the taxi shuttle and stood in front of the second floor entrance of the lounge. "I need to set up." Garrus looked around searching for a vantage point, eventually seeing one over a balcony inside the lounge. He pointed towards it. "I can get a clear shot from over there."

Shepard looked in the direction that Garrus pointed. "Got it. What do you want me to do?"

"Keep him talking, but don't get in my way. I'll let you know when I've got a shot. Signal me so I know it's all good, and I'll take my chance. You'd better go, he'll be here soon." Shepard nodded and waved Mathias to follow him and they split up with Garrus. They went down to the lower level of the lounge and entered. Mathias noted the large number of nightclubs and lounges on the Citadel and made a mental note to return once Shepard's mission against the Collectors was complete. Oh, right. Mathias felt down once he remembered what they were up against.

They walked slowly through the lounge waiting to spot the antagonizing turian. "Shepard, do you hear me?" Garrus asked over the earpiece. Mathias could hear it too.

"Loud and clear." Shepard responded, stopping and waiting for further instruction from Garrus. Mathias wanted to look back and see Garrus perched at the top of the balcony, but he wanted to stay inconspicuous and not give themselves away to Sidonis who could be watching anywhere. Mathias instead watched the club patrons enjoying their time, completely unaware of an assassination that was about to unfold.

"I see him, sitting there on a bench beside two asari. Blue clothes, yellow trim, red accents. Wave him over and keep him talking until I can get a shot." Garrus sounded oddly calm.

Shepard noticed Sidonis sitting on the bench, and upon him looking in their direction Shepard motioned for him to come over. Hesitantly, Sidonis got up and approached. "Alright, let's get this over with." His purple face paintings reminded Mathias of lilac flowers, and he remembered to remain composed so he didn't blow their cover.

"You're in my shot. Move to the side."

Shepard moved aside as asked. "This won't take long." He said.

Sidonis already seemed a bit suspicious. "You're Harkin's men? I don't recall seeing you two before."

"That's it, just keep him going for a few more seconds."

Shepard nodded, and Sidonis rolled his eyes. "This better not happen again. I was told that Harkin was one of the best." Sidonis sighed as he remarked.

"Oh, it won't. Don't worry about that." Shepard finally stepped completely to the side, leaving Sidonis exposed to Garrus. Sidonis noticed the strange behaviour and finally caught on, swearing and starting off the other way. Mathias heard a shot ring out and watched Sidonis fall to the floor, surprised to see that either the other patrons didn't notice or they did just didn't care. Shepard and Mathias left quickly. It was the second bit of justice Mathias got to feel in a short period of time, and it was satisfying. He smiled to himself as they met Garrus outside the lounge. They called a taxi to take them back to the Normandy.

"It's finally done." Garrus said with a sigh of relief.

Shepard shook his head. "This is what happens when things get personal. I just hope it's over."

"Oh, it's over alright. Let's get out of here, I'm sure Cerberus will make sure no charges are laid over this." Entering the taxi, Garrus seemed quite happy now that his ordeal was done. The pilot took off and they soon met with the Normandy.

Upon boarding the Normandy, Shepard, Garrus and Mathias were greeted by an excited Kelly Chambers, her red hair shining in the light, just as brightly as her eyes. "Mathias, there's someone who would like to see you." She said quite enthusiastically. Already with an idea, Mathias' heart jumped and he started unsuiting, leaving his armour in Jacob's Armoury and following Kelly into the elevator then to the Crew's Quarters. She led him to the Starboard Observatory where he saw his father, sitting collected on the bench with his eyes shifting around the room. When he noticed Mathias in the room, he looked around to make sure the area was safe and got up, picking Mathias up and embracing him.

"I thought I'd never see you again, my son."


	8. Illium Relocation

**Just a slight chapter preface.** I know it's been a number of months between chapters but that's thanks to some good old writer's block and a lack of motivation. Rest assured, I have no intentions of letting this whole story go unfinished.

"How's your father doing?" Tali asked. Shepard, Mathias and Tali sat at the sectional lounge in Shepard's own private quarters on the Normandy, a rather nice room situated on the top of the ship with a skylight, aquarium, king-sized bed and private washroom.

It was the first time Mathias was truly at peace in twenty-three years despite the on-going tyranny of the Collectors. Even though he had been settled before, the idea that his father's 'killer' was still at large had always been at the back of his mind and constantly nipped at his heels. With his father in the care of the Normandy medical crew, he could finally rest easy and he had no regrets joining Shepard's mission for this one reason alone, as he felt that without Shepard's and Garrus' help, he may have never found Moray or his father. The idea that the Collectors would end up in possession of him was a troubling thought, but was fortunately never made a reality.

Mathias lightly shook his drink and sipped the sweet, red fluid. "Mordin and Kelly think that he's going to need a lot of therapy. I'm not surprised considering he was kept in constant captivity as a trophy for the past twenty-three years. But he seems to be okay, I had a good talk with him last night. He told me about how he had never thought he'd see me again and how it was a happy surprise that he was wrong."

"What did they do to him while he was held captive?"

Now frozen, a sigh left Mathias' lips and his heart started to pound. Sweat beaded his brow and his chest burned and his normally bright eyes dulled. "He... He could hardly even talk to _me_ about it." His eyes avoided both Shepard's and Tali's curious gazes. He hoped that they would arrive on Illium quickly enough so he wouldn't have to tell them the things that were done to his father, but seeing there were no notifications and Shepard and Tali still waited, he decided to tell them after a long and somewhat awkward silence.

"They did awful stuff. He somehow survived when they tried to kill him. He said that Moray thought it was because his gods, 'Almachi' and 'Senia' wanted him to save him as a trophy. It's why he's always hated organized religion… Well that, and the fact that it made life difficult for us vampires in the past." Mathias gulped down the last of his beverage and put the empty glass on the coffee table in front of them. "They experimented on him... Took his blood, venom and... Others... Tried to make weird potions that would make you immortal or immune to disease and illness. They injured him just to see how quickly he'd heal and when they saw how fast he healed they'd hurt him again, they mentally abused him on a daily basis and did even worse things... One of the asari that was there wanted to engineer his and her genes so asari could reap the benefits of being a vampire…" Mathias paused as the sensation of swelling in his stomach rose like it were going to eject its contents. "I'm sorry, I can't talk about it anymore. I'm just so glad we got to him when we did... They were eventually going to sell him off to the Collectors."

Tali and Shepard stared at Mathias speechless. Shock was likely the reason, that someone could be so sadistic for such trivial reasons. Shepard put his drink back on the table as Miranda returned from a lower deck. She stopped when she noted the unusual silence and the expressions on everyone's faces.

"You all look like you've seen ghosts. Is there something I missed?" Miranda asked, returning to her spot on the sectional.

Tali adjusted her position on the sectional. "Mathias just detailed the trauma Rodon went through. We're stunned at what they did to him. They were going to sell him off to the Collectors."

"That's what I heard. I don't know much of the details, but he's going to need a lot of cognitive behavioural therapy, and it could take a while." Miranda said matter-of-factly.

The room became silent, only with the sound of the beeping from Shepard's omni-tool. He retrieved a number of Cerberus files documenting Reaper husks and read them over in his mind while Tali, Miranda and Mathias watched quietly. "Would the Collectors have turned him into a mindless husk, like some of the Humans we had seen on Virmire? _Could_ they have even turned him into one? I'm doubtful they have much knowledge, if any, on vampirism."

"Those husks were created by Saren and the Geth." Tali interjected.

"Don't forget where they got that technology from." Closing his omni-tool, Shepard said. "Saren, the Geth and Liara's mother were all brainwashed by the Reapers."

Arms crossed, Miranda leaned on Shepard's aquarium while exotic and Earthly fish floated by. "Like you said, it's highly unlikely the Collectors have any experience with vampires because they're so rare. I think it's more likely they would simply use Rodon's genetic material to create something else, or use it to modify their own bodies. If they were able to turn a pureblooded vampire into a husk, we could be in a lot of trouble if we ever managed to run into one."

"She's right." Mathias started, getting up. "My father and I descend from an extremely powerful bloodline. I know that I'm probably the most powerful biotic in the galaxy, not counting pureblooded vampires. Even without that, I'm still many times stronger than even regular halfbreed vampires, I heal faster and I'm far more agile - and regular halfbreed vampires are superior to normal humans in virtually every regard. My father multiplies my power hundreds of times over. I've seen him in action. If he was turned into a husk like the ones I saw on Horizon, I wouldn't stay to fight. I'd run and hope that he didn't catch me. I just hope they hadn't captured any other members of my family like my aunts, uncle or cousins. I don't have any reason to believe that's what happened because I've spoken to them all shortly before joining this mission, but it's something to think about."

"You've seen him in action?" Miranda asked with her eyes carefully trained on Mathias.

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry... I've got to go." He turned towards the exit to Shepard's quarters. Miranda looked at him perplexed.

"Are you still willing to go with Miranda and I to recruit the Justicar and the Assassin? We'll reach Illium shortly, and we'll be taking both tasks consecutively." Shepard asked, getting up to pour more drinks for himself and Miranda. He sat back down with the glass drink pitcher and handed Tali her own drink bottle she brought, Miranda sitting next to her.

"Yeah, just call me when you're ready." Slowly, Mathias exited Shepard's personal quarters and returned to the Crew's Quarters and the Starboard Observation deck where Kelly Chambers input information into a data pad, with his father sitting calmly on the bench. Rodon was clearly very startled when the door opened, but relaxed again when he saw it was Mathias.

Kelly put down the data pad. "Do you want some time alone with him? He talks about you a lot."

"Yeah, sure."

Kelly got up with her data pad and left the Starboard Observation deck, leaving Mathias and Rodon alone. Mathias went and sat across from him. "How is everything going?" Mathias calmly asked.

Seeing the massive pureblood vampire, normally so bold, powerful, intrepid and outgoing in a deteriorated state of constant fear was gut-wrenching for Mathias. Rodon sat, with his hands together, his wings closely folded in and tail pressed close to his outer thigh. As Mathias recalled, his father never kept his wings so close together. He even noted several scars along the thick membrane between the bony fingers of his wings and that one of the huge, silver talons on the end of the bony wing structure was missing. "It's... It's been difficult. It's abnormally difficult to let go of that which has been and gone." Though still fearful, Rodon's voice was monstrously deep and the mere sound of it in the dark would frighten most people.

"I understand. The thought of losing you was also not easy. You're going to need a lot of help, but I'm so happy that you're okay." Mathias looked to the floor. Words couldn't describe how happy and relieved he was, but Mathias was still somewhat uncomfortable.

Rodon examined the vast expanse of space through the observation deck's window, watching the distant stars and planets pass by. "I have found that, in defiance of the awareness of my asylum, I have been curiously aflutter - incapable of tranquilizing my neurasthenia. The woman Kelly Chambers promises the termination of my torment through therapeutics and medicinal remedies, but it so far is unforeseeable."

"Huh." Mathias breathed. "I suppose I take that from you? I think I've mostly curbed my anxiety."

Rodon shook his horned head. "That is a feature your mother possessed." He smiled. "You are alike me in virtually every way; nevertheless, I still observe her in you. Her remembrance, as well as yours, has been a sparkling spring of consolation. I had always aspired that one day, I would tread with you again." The massive creature sighed, the sound of the air entering his lungs was deep and relaxed Mathias, reminding him that his father was not gone and of times when he was young. "I behold my son before me - his tremendously disparate appearance contrasts with my recollection. What is your reasoning for the change?"

Mathias looked up from the floor. The last time Rodon had seen him, he lacked the skull facial tattoo, long bangs with white highlights and heavy-set muscles. "After I thought you… Died, I wanted to improve myself. I didn't want to collapse and wallow in despair. I tried to hide my true self, and this has become who I am now."

"I comprehend your innovative transformation. It truly is marvellous to behold that which you have become. I do believe you have flourished." It was quite apparent that Rodon was allowing himself to relax, though he did maintain a degree of nervousness, looking around every now and then. His mind was likely playing tricks on him: deep down, still believing there was danger. Mathias knew the feeling all too well. "My son is unlike any other - you recognize you're the first halfbreed in my bloodline?"

A mild grin illuminated Mathias' face. "That's one reason that makes me yours. I see you still haven't lost your quirks, like everything is a formal meeting."

"Old habits die hard. As it happens, I delve into and encounter the infinite wilderness of the cosmos, very much for the first time; never done so prior to our current meeting." Rodon scrutinized his surroundings before reluctantly getting up to approach the large observation window, to more closely examine the stars as they passed. He kept his tail tucked around his legs while checking the area behind himself often. "It's… Like nothing else. As per my request, we drifted alongside the Earth. In twenty-three years, I had nevermore felt invigorated."

Mathias rose from the sectional and stood beside his father. "You never forget an experience like that. Tell me… How did you feel when you saw the whole of the Earth for the first time?"

"Sensation…" Rodon sighed and looked down to Mathias, dwarfing him quite significantly. It made him feel small. "Sensation is not an equitable summarization of the experience. Reminding me of how insignificant we really are, how irrelevant my problems, beholding the planet upon which you were born grants a universal consciousness. While incredible, it prompts a recollection of the dissatisfaction with the state of current events which I hold. A potent impulse to act upon said dissatisfaction arises; world affairs - even galactic - become so petty. The desire to draw a politician so far from home and make them realize the bigger picture, is something I previously never considered. Edgar Mitchell was correct."

Even now, despite his state of perpetual restlessness, the awe could still be seen in Rodon's luminous golden eyes. It reminded Mathias of his first venture into space and he suddenly wished he could experience it again. Humanity had been in space for many decades before his birth and growing up he was bombarded with knowledge about the cosmos but nothing could prepare him for the intense sensation of seeing the Earth in its entirety for the first time - the only reason for Mathias' existence, something so cosmically random yet so crucial all at the same time. It was very much like being high on something illegal.

The sectional creaked as Rodon's monumental weight burdened it. Mathias had been so taken aback by the astronomical veracity about their existence he didn't even realize his father had returned to the seat to continue fighting the demons inside.

"On the day you were born, I deposed I would defend and preserve you for as long as necessary to ensure you were ready. I failed." Mathias sat next to him, concentrating on Rodon's voice and saddened face. "You were forsaken, at a time of great strife, and I had not been there to ease your struggle." A vivid wave of guilt flooded Rodon's mind as he recalled the day he and Mathias were taken, causing his chest to burn and heart to beat faster. Anger still remained; the image of seeing Mathias bound and not being able to save him made his blood boil temporarily.

Mathias was somewhat confused by his father's apparent admission of fault and struggled to string together a relevant sentence. "What do you mean 'you failed'? There was nothing anyone could do."

The pureblooded vampire sighed. "I found myself unable to be there for you. My remorse is more than… Compelling."

Squinting his eyes, Mathias closed in placing his chin on his hand. "Give it some time, that'll go away." He got up and hugged Rodon quickly before heading out of the Starboard Observation deck. Welled up eyes were the least of his concern as he made his way towards the Helmsman's Deck where Joker was so he could observe the Normandy's path towards Illium.

A quickly approaching mass relay began firing up the Element Zero that attached itself to the Normandy. The rings containing the Element Zero began rotating at a much faster rate before finally propelling the frigate into a wormhole; enveloping it in a light blue tunnel.

"That never gets old." Joker stated towards EDI, acknowledging by flashing the blue holographic light. Mathias silently positioned himself behind Joker's cockpit armchair and demonically eyeballed the blue orb representing EDI to tell her to remain silent. She complied and allowed Mathias to expeditiously grab Joker's arm. "What the-" He jumped and turned around, temporarily distracted by the unfamiliar face before returning to the ship's controls.

"Watch the arm! Vrolik's Syndrome?" He paused for a second, realizing who was beside him. "I… Don't think we've really been acquainted." Joker slowly started. He guided the frigate out of the wormhole and engaged faster-than-light drivers, stretching the surrounding stars. Mathias shook his head and hoped Joker couldn't tell he had been dolorous. Apparently, it was not the case - Mathias saw himself in a reflection on the cockpit's fortified windows and could see that his prior tears were not visible.

A thought crossed the gothic vampire's mind, unusually making him feel uneasy. Since joining Shepard's mission, Mathias noticed a change in his own personality: he had become less aggressive and irritable though not when out fighting and he had toned down some of his usual antics such as searching for a rise in other people. Instead, his more introverted nature shone a lot more as he reflected on his failed attempts at succeeding in all fields and avoided the majority of sapient contact.

"No." Mathias started slowly, coolly and deeply. His voice contained an aura of mystery. "We have not been acquainted. How much longer before we reach Illium?"

A holographic map overlaid itself in front of joker. "About thirty minutes at roughly one-point-eight parsecs or six times the speed of light." The orange map clearly displayed the Tasale system as well as their approximate triangulated location, updated in real time. Mathias watched it and examined the numbers displayed on the holograph as they shrunk, indicating a declining distance between them and the asari-controlled world of Illium.

Mathias turned quickly and headed towards Jacob's armoury and saw him applying an upgrade to a high-end set of armour. It was black with red with white accents and appeared to have a price tag worth more than Mathias' entire annual salary on Earth. Jacob examined his handiwork then turned to Mathias, pulling his chestpiece off the table and handing it to him.

Turning it over several times, Mathias examined the chestpiece and noticed several new capacitors. "I managed to get my hands on some prototype shielding. You'll notice I installed the more powerful capacitors to handle the denser shields." Mathias ran his fingers along the finer details of the suit as he listened to Jacob. "These upgrades also allow for a more direct flow of medi-gel and strengthen the armour itself."

The armoury doors whisked open as Shepard and Miranda entered. "I didn't expect to see you here so early, Mathias." Shepard said as he began to equip the previously seen high-end armour. It must have been a new, custom set just recently ordered. Mathias watched Miranda equip her shielding and guns as he, himself suited up and activated the shields while Jacob briefed Shepard and Miranda on the upgrades he had done.

Many people had high expectations of Illium and Mathias thoroughly imagined what it was like. He had heard both good things and bad things alike; accepting of slaves while remaining highly appealing to tourists and prospecting immigrants. Supposed to be hot, most people lived in the northern regions of the planet or at higher altitudes. Much of Illium's capital city, Nos Astra, excited Mathias as it was known for having many glitzy casinos and glamourous nightclubs just like his hometown of Calgary. It was just the kind of place he liked; however, the anticipation of it was bittersweet as on one hand, it would be a break of the constant business of military life but on the other he didn't want to leave his mortified and powerless father behind. Mathias was sure Rodon would be safe in the care of the Normandy's professionals but he was uncomfortable with the idea regardless.

Mathias looked up after a rather unpleasantly long silence. He had realized that Shepard, Miranda and Jacob had been beaming at him, wondering what was going on in his mind. The red-eyed vampire returned the gaze with a sarcastic shrug and a poker face, shaking his head. "What?"

"You don't have to go if you don't want to." Miranda said, adjusting her suit's collar and placing a pistol on the holster mounted on her back. "We can call someone-"

"I'm going." Mathias interrupted her somewhat snidely then stormed out of the Armoury to wait in the Pilot's Cabin for the ship to reach its destination. He wanted to watch the unimaginably extensive abyss pass by as he lost himself in thought.

Mathias let his mind slip back to when he was a mere sixteen years old, just one year before he lost his father for two decades. He had returned from school to the small, abandoned warehouse he had grown up in just outside the dense urban areas of the Calgary-Edmonton Metropolis. Running into the building, in hand a pair of small replica vampire fangs hand-carved out of balsa wood attached to a ring he had purchased earlier that day intending to present them to his father as a gift.

Dropping his backpack at the front door he crept towards the main living area and prior to entering, he saw his father conversing with three other pureblooded vampires from beyond the corner; Mathias' uncle Oniron as well as Oniron's two sons, Bromir and Irvire. Mathias decided against entering the living area as he managed to make himself feel somewhat alienated from the rest of his relatives, thanks to the fact that he was the only halfbreed vampire in the entire family bloodline. He wasn't close to his uncle, aunts or cousins; especially the two who were at his home - he knew damn well that both Bromir and Irvire were a lot bigger and stronger than he was and he feared being picked on, as he experienced torment every day at school. The last thing he wanted was to go through it at home. Listening to the conversation his father and uncle had, he leaned against the wall and examined the small trinket with his fingers.

"I continue to recall that event when you had come to me for help - with your son." Uncle Oniron said, for some reason chilling Mathias to the bone. He didn't like people talking about him behind his back, especially when he thought it would reveal what others truly thought about him and he typically jumped to conclusions, thinking the worst - even without any real reasoning or evidence behind it.

From behind the corner, Mathias watched his father pause for a moment to think - an action that filled him with anxiety and other bad feelings. "A painful reminder, yes. Feelings so powerful, the simple action of looking back stirs up exactly how I had felt. I had no knowledge I was capable of inseminating a human female - the notion I had unthinkingly made myself a father, principally considering the case I had no motive to ever do so - made me conclude I had made the most grievous error of my life. I saw no one else to go to for recommendation." Wait... What?

A nearly audible gasp escaped Mathias' mouth as a burning sensation filled his chest and a pit formed in his gut. His father had essentially admitted to him (albeit unintentionally) that his own son was a mistake. Mathias searched the floor contemplating what he just heard. He had been very close to his father which helped him get through his frequent depression and anxiety attacks but now felt he had nowhere to go - immediately, thoughts of hopelessness filled his mind. Shattering and pieces scattering shocked the air when Mathias slammed the trinket intended as a gift for his father to the floor. He saw the attention of the pureblooded vampires turn in his direction milliseconds before he darted out of the small converted warehouse and into the forested area, not looking back even once. A new hate for his father had taken root and Mathias intended on disappearing.

Mathias collapsed into a bush, having deteriorated. He thought he had cried so hard that the millions of people living in the nearby urban areas could hear him - he then realized that with how sharp a vampire's hearing was, then his own and remembered that a pureblood's hearing was even sharper. The idea forced him to quiet down as he didn't want his father to find him, provided he was searching. The intense sadness he felt turned into anger. Mathias pulled himself out of the bush and pressed on further into the wilderness, hoping to eventually come upon the Calgary-Edmonton Metropolis.

Instead, what he came upon was a pack of angry coyotes. Roughly a dozen, they began to circle around Mathias as he stood in shock and terror, unsure of what to do. He began waving his hands around in the air and shouting at them to see if they would back off; however, his pleas went unnoticed. The coyotes eventually began to close in, completely intent on killing him. One of the coyotes pounced on Mathias and pressed him on the ground. He panicked and thought that his short life was now over, but a strange feeling overcame him - adrenaline plus the sensation of a strong electrical current flowing through his body compelled him to do something he thought he could not - without thinking, he violently ripped the head off the coyote who had pounced on him and threw himself up into the air using his newly discovered biotic ability. The kinetic energy surrounding him was so powerful the shockwave sent all offending coyotes flying off into the depths of the forest, leveling smaller and weaker trees in the process. He watched two of the closer coyotes pick themselves up off the ground and slink away, terrified of the monster in front of them.

Mathias closely inspected the blue energy that had enveloped his body. He watched as it swirled around his hands, feeling the heat it gave off and imagining how far the blue light from the energy was travelling. Eventually, it calmed down and withdrew back inside his body. 'Those are biotics?' He asked himself. He was confused, particularly since humans, asari, turians, krogans and basically any other being discovered to be a biotic required bio-amp implants to even be able to take control over their power and he knew he was not fitted with such technology.

Moments passed and Mathias' father, uncle and two cousins appeared in the new clearing created by the shockwave Mathias had inadvertently created. They had apparently noticed the bright, blue radiation and stared at Mathias in disbelief.

Mathias mentally thanked himself for having bio-amps implanted into his body to augment his biotic power as he knew he would likely need it for Shepard's mission.

"Begin preparing for docking protocols." The sound of Joker's voice ordering EDI woke Mathias up out of his wandering mind, bringing his attention to the asari-controlled garden world of Illium which unsurprisingly reminded him of Earth. The idea that one could leave the planet they were born on and live on another was still a mind-blowing thought for Mathias who, prior to joining Shepard's mission against the Collectors, rarely ever left Earth due to how expensive it could be for the average citizen. His friend Dan had paid for his ticket to Freedom's Progress, as long ago as that had seemed.

The Pilot's Deck provided a wonderfully clear view of the descent into the planet's atmosphere, then the growing streets as they drew nearer and nearer. Once low enough, the Normandy flew forwards towards the city's plentiful and dense skyline, weaving in between the tall towers.

Nos Astra was clearly a different city, almost nothing like Calgary. For one, Mathias noticed a high concentration of the colour purple - so much purple, especially the neon lights. In comparison, Calgary was a lot more colourful and far more cyberpunk - many neon lights, all a vastly diverse range of colours, many different building styles from many different eras - so much shiny glass. Nos Astra, even though it was considerably beautiful, seemed somewhat monotonous.

The Normandy breezed by the many busy towers and fast shuttles until it reached its destination, a docking bay attached to a spread out and high-up building. Mathias turned around and saw Shepard and Miranda approaching, turning into the ship's airlock. He followed, entering and waiting for the ship to complete the standard decontamination routine, leaving once it was finished. They walked along the huge building's balcony that provided a clear view of the city's skyline and many towers, as well as the tremendous Normandy SR-2. Mathias wondered if his father could muster up the ability to leave the Cerberus frigate and venture out into the alien city, just as a professionally dressed asari approached with two humanoid mechs trailing behind.

The asari concierge stretched a smile on her face as she greeted the three, though addressing Shepard more directly. "Welcome to Nos Astra, Shepard." She waved off the mechs who went to stand by a wall. "It's an honour to have you and your team visiting our city."

While Mathias stared out into the vast expanse of the asari-controlled city, Shepard responded to the concierge with a simple nod. "We've got some business to take care of here, but thanks for the welcome regardless." Shepard said politely. "I'll have Cerberus take care of any fees we'll incur here." Just as Shepard began to proceed forward, the asari concierge held up her hand so they would not. Her smile didn't fade, and it made Mathias suspicious towards her. He felt that most commonly, people's smiles were fake and not to be trusted. He placed a hand on his pistol which was now holstered on his armour's belt, ready to use it if necessary.

"That won't be necessary. All of your docking and administration fees have been paid by Liara T'Soni, who has asked to speak to you at your earliest convenience in her office above the trading floor."

Shepard seemed a little bit stunned and crossed his arms as he visually searched the concierge. "Liara paid our fees? What's she doing here?" Mathias and Miranda waited for the conversation to continue as Mathias began pacing back and forth, becoming impatient. He wasn't looking forward to having to do anything today and only wanted to go and lie in his bed or play video games. He searched the floor as he listened.

Maintaining an adept posture, the concierge continued. "Liara is one of Nos Astra's most well-respected information brokers. Because Illium is so trade-centric, information is a highly valuable commodity and Liara has done quite well for herself. She's been looking forward to seeing you; and like I said: she can be found in her office above the trading floor."

"Thank you." Shepard simply said, watching the asari concierge nod, finally continuing forward past a customs desk and onto the busy trading floor loud with voices, which was completely open to the sky. Mathias' powerful sense of smell could pick up traces of an expensive grill. The exact dish was unknown to him, but he did know that he wanted it. He looked towards Shepard and Miranda to see if he could read their emotions, only to find that they had maintained poker faces.

Miranda approached the balcony, looked down to the ground hundreds of metres below then looked off into the rest of the city. "You've got to give the asari credit, Illium is a cultural marvel. Humanity can learn a lot from their ingenuity. Too bad they seem to deal with slaves here." She pushed herself off the balcony and returned to the squad.

Confused, Mathias read Miranda quizzically and looked around the trading floor to see if he could spot any dubious or questionable activity. "They have slaves here?"

"They like to call them 'indentured servants'. I'm still not so sure if I agree with the idea, but if someone wants to pay off a debt they may as well work for it." Miranda said with her Australian accent, glowering at another human male who was quite obviously rubbernecking at her in a wolfish manner.

"A Justicar named Samara has recently visited this port. Liara is likely to have information as pertaining to her location. She may also be aware of Thane Krios." EDI explained to the three over their headsets. Mathias looked for her office and saw it overlooking the trading floor. Inside, he could see an asari speaking to a human through a holographic display. "Also, I have a message for Miss Lawson. Lanteia has reserved a room in Eternity and will be waiting for you there regarding your personal situation."

"Thank you, EDI." Miranda responded, following Shepard calmly towards Liara's office.

"Are they the ones we're looking for? Samara and Thane Krios?" Mathias asked as they walked into a corridor and up a set of steps. The sound of pleasant and classy music starting to louden, signifying an area of wealth.

"Yes, but we've got a more pressing issue at the moment." Shepard jogged up the rest of the stairs and they entered a somewhat luxurious lounge high above the trading floor, not the office Mathias was expecting. A human, turian and salarian sat around a table as an asari striptease artist swayed seductively on the table surface. Two of the men - the human and the turian - spoke to the salarian about how they thought they should have a party, but Mathias wasn't quite sure why. He also eavesdropped on a conversation between a quarian and a turian, and how the male turian thought they should date. As he, Shepard and Miranda entered a room off to the side of the lounge, Mathias realized the conversation at the stripper's table was supposed to be regarding a 'stag party'. Inside the room, an asari dressed in military attire leaned against the wall, getting up upon seeing Miranda.

"Miss Lawson? I'm glad you made it."

Miranda seemed somewhat exasperated. "We came as quickly as we could, Lanteia. What happened?"

Watching the shuttles pass by outside through the window, flashing past the sunset, Mathias tried to read the emotions of Miranda and Lanteia, as aside from recruiting Thane Krios and Samara, he was unaware of what was going on. "There's been some complications." Lanteia spoke with urgency and it started to make Mathias' heart beat faster.

Huffing to herself, Miranda turned around and paced quickly before turning to face Lanteia again with her arms somewhat open, as if she were confused. "Is Oriana alright?"

"She's fine." Squinting, Lanteia increased the strength in her voice though remaining calm. "You listed a man named 'Niket' as your trusted source. He contacted me and warned me about mercenaries your father had sent after her to make a sweep. Niket suggested they might be personally watching for you and offered to escort Oriana and her family to the terminal.

Miranda seemed somewhat dumbstruck with her mouth mildly agape. Shepard turned to face her. "Who's this 'Niket'? You didn't mention him before." He asked.

"He's a friend of mine. We go back a long way." The Cerberus officer hesitated to explain, eliciting a slender grimace from Shepard. Mathias thought it was because Miranda had been keeping secrets from the Commander and hoped that his own secrets, trivial they may be, would not upset Shepard as well. Aside from his father, Shepard was the only other person Mathias had seeked approval from.

"Would you like to bring in any of your other Illium contacts, Miss Lawson?" Lanteia asked as she readied a datapad.

Miranda held up her hand. "No, that won't be necessary. I only trust you and Niket on this matter." She shook her head.

Turning to Lanteiai, Shepard crossed his arms. "What else can you tell us about the mercenaries?"

"I've confirmed that they're Eclipse and are a part of the organization Miss Lawson warned me about. They haven't done anything illegal so I can't alert the authorities." She explained.

"It's okay, we can handle it ourselves." Mathias asserted after feeling a need to have his voice heard - it felt strange to him. Shepard's mission seemed to have been really changing him, though Miranda nodded with approval.

Shepard exhaled audibly. "Making changes to the plan can be dangerous. Are you sure you can trust this 'Niket'?" He waited as Miranda hesitated to answer his question as if she were starting to doubt herself.

"Absolutely." Miranda then proclaimed after a few seconds of silence. "He is one of my oldest friends and I trust him implicitly with Oriana." She turned back to Lanteia. "Lanteia, we'll follow Niket's suggestion. Shepard, Mathias and I will take the shuttle and draw away their attention. You will have Niket escort Oriana and her family to the shuttle and give him full access to the family's itinerary, just to be safe."

"Understood, Miss Lawson." Lanteia, the asari contact, left the room to continue with the rest of her dealings, leaving Shepard, Miranda and Mathias in the room.

"So, the plan is to get us shot down by Eclipse while your sister gets to safety?" Shepard snidely remarked, making both Miranda and Mathias feel somewhat uncomfortable. Mathias moved himself to face Shepard and further examine the dealings in the background of the asari lounge.

Miranda's expression remained plain. "No. Eclipse will have orders to take my sister alive. I very seriously doubt they'd risk anything that would kill us. I'm sure Niket can take care of himself, so we just need to worry about ourselves and Oriana."

Shepard nodded and they turned to leave the room. "Let's go."

"Thank you, Shepard. I appreciate what you're doing for me. I hadn't planned on Eclipse, but they didn't plan on either of you." Miranda said as they left the lounge, motioning to both Shepard and Mathias. Shepard radioed to the Normandy to have some of the crew prepare a civilian shuttle for them as they headed towards the docking bay where they first stepped foot in Nos Astra.

"So your sister is running from someone, and from what I could tell, that someone is your father… Am I right?" Mathias asked somewhat innocently, focusing his gaze on the neon-dressed towers that stood guard over the city.

A shuttle parked itself near the Normandy and enabled the squad to enter. "It's a long story, but yes. I'm trying to keep her away from my father to prevent her from having to go through… What I did." Miranda explained. Mathias wanted to press her on the matter but a cold stare from Shepard advised him not to. They got into the shuttle and whizzed off into the city and merged with traffic, Shepard piloting.

Traffic was busy, to say the least. It almost appeared that nearly all of the city's residents were out and on their way to somewhere. Mathias thought that it must have been the weekend on Illium or some other holiday and everyone wanted to go out and about. It forced Shepard to fly the shuttle outside of normal traffic boundaries to get to the cargo terminal.

The squad flew through an industrial area and eventually reached a warehouse, dropping down to fly in through the large cargo bay doors. As they zoomed in, a number of Eclipse mercenaries came into view. "Let's hope they really do want to take us alive." Miranda said, destroying any hope Mathias and Shepard had left to the contrary - especially when the mercenaries began shooting at the shuttle. The hot bullets cracked the shuttle's windows as they ricocheted off the metal plating. Mathias felt the shuttle drop as Shepard feigned a crash in behind several shipping crates, violently shocking everyone inside. They shook it off, readied their weapons and exited the shuttle and approached the group of mercenaries, Miranda leading.

"Since you're not firing at us, I trust you know who we are and why we're here." She said firmly, stopping directly in front of one of the human men, who appeared to be the most heavily armoured. Shepard and Mathias both accompanied her on either side to provide extra support.

The mercenary stood firm and frowned at Miranda while his backup men unsuccessfully attempted to scare the squad. "They told us to expect you. You're the dumb bitch who kidnapped the boss' daughter." Mathias sneered and growled at the mercenary but he remained unfazed. Mathias wanted to show the mercenaries who was really boss, but he wanted to wait for Shepard's command or until the mercenaries decided to fight back. "He wants her back and we're not going to let you take her away."

Miranda was taken aback. She scoffed at the mercenary and almost smiled sarcastically, appearing to almost be trying to hold herself back from killing the mercenary leader outright. "Kidnapped?" She snapped. "This doesn't involve you. I think you should leave with your groupies. I'm not leaving without making sure Oriana gets away."

The mercenary leader had an obvious sense of entitlement and he stood comfortably, as if he was already sure of the confrontation outcome, but Mathias knew otherwise. He watched Shepard's biotics begin to flare up while he readied his hand to reach for his gun quickly. The mercenary leader glowered at the group and sneered. "You think you got everything figured out, don't you? You're too late because Captain Enyala's already moved in on the kid. She knows about Niket and I don't think he'll be helping you any time soon."

"Did you do something to Niket?" Shepard asked suspiciously, still ready to fight.

The mercenary leader simply shrugged off Shepard which annoyed the entire Normandy squad greatly. He waved his arm to dismiss them. "That's nothing you need to concern yourself with. Unless you do something dumb, no one's going to get hurt. If you walk away, Oriana will go back to her father without incident. I'd advise you to take my suggestion. You don't want things to get rough."

"Do you want to see rough?" Mathias virtually shouted, flaring his biotics. The anger in his blood was powerful enough to turn the blue kinetic energy enveloping his body a violent red. "I'll show you rough."

"You've got one chance to turn around and leave." Shepard quickly exchanged looks with Mathias and Miranda to ensure they were ready. "That's more warning than what most get."

The mercenary leader almost laughed as an insincere smile outlined his face. He crossed his arms and shook his head, making Mathias even angrier. "Captain Enyala ordered us to give you one chance to walk away. I'd suggest you take it. This whole time we've been talking, my men have been lining up shots." The mercenary leader stepped closer to Shepard in an attempt to rouse him. "If you don't take the chance we're giving you, we'll unleash hell-"

In one quick move, Mathias grabbed the self-righteous mercenary leader and broke his neck with a loud snap, crackle and pop, prompting Shepard and Miranda to quickly fire at and subsequently kill the surrounding Eclipse mercenaries. Shepard fired at a crate being transported above several metres away, causing the cargo to fall on top of a few quickly approaching mercenaries, sending their limp bodies flying over another mercenary, startling him.

Shepard, Miranda and Mathias ran forward and hid behind several crates and started picking off the approaching Eclipse mercenaries with their guns. Consisting primarily of humans, salarians and asari, they began dropping off, one by one, allowing the squad to advance further into the shipping warehouse. They turned a corner to face several more mercenaries off into the distance and Miranda took the opportunity to throw a biotic shockwave their way, sending them scattering in every direction. Shepard finished the move, sending a bolt of kinetic energy to explode in place and kill any mercenaries within its vicinity. An asari mercenary managed to escape injure by the attack and returned the assault with a similar area of effect attack that would have taken down the Normandy squad's shields, if Mathias hadn't thrown up a biotic field to prevent damage at the last second. Miranda fired the fatal shots into the asari's chest and led the way towards an elevator door.

Shepard opened it and allowed Mathias and Miranda to enter, entering last himself. Before the elevator door had a chance to close, Miranda halted it to keep them open when she heard a voice over a radio headset one of the fallen mercenaries had dropped. She calmly approached it and picked it up, returning to the elevator thereafter. "Team four! Do you read, team four? Do you copy?" The synthesized voice on the other end desperately called for an answer.

"Looks like we should have no trouble getting their messages. I'll patch us into their network and give us an idea of what we're up against." Miranda said, reading the radio information off the device and programming it into her headset, allowing Shepard and Mathias to do the same. When they were finished, Miranda broke the mercenary radio headset in her hand then dropped it to the floor. Miranda closed the elevator door and it slowly began moving up several levels, to a floor indicated by the mercenary radio.

Shaking her head, Miranda sighed and looked disappointedly at the elevator's level indicator. "Shepard, I believe I owe you a bit of an explanation." Miranda said, Shepard looking at her quizzically, probably feeling somewhat inconvenienced.

"You didn't actually kidnap your sister like that idiot back there said… Right? What's this even all about? Why is your sister running from your father?" Mathias asked innocently. "I don't like going into something without knowing exactly why we're even doing it." He almost felt betrayed because of it.

"I suppose you deserve to know." Miranda faced Mathias specifically, looking up to him as he towered over her somewhat significantly. "My father is an extremely controlling man. He created me, based off his DNA and had me genetically engineered so I could be a perfect example of a human being. He didn't want a daughter or a family; he wanted fame, a dynasty. I got everything I ever wanted, but I was never perfect enough for him. He never truly approved of anything I did and made me work harder and harder towards perfection. I was never allowed to have my own life, my own friends." Her voice noticeably slowed down, perhaps due to unpleasant thoughts. "When I was a teenager, he created a twin of me - Oriana - intended to be my successor. I took her away from him when she was still young, so she wouldn't have to go through what I did."

Mathias shook his head. "You took her away from a life of wealth and comfort so that Oriana wouldn't have to go through the unpleasantries you did? I'm… I'm not sure what I think about that."

"It doesn't matter what you think." Miranda leaned on the wall, crossed her arms and looked to the floor to search for a way to construct her words. "I wanted her to have a normal life, a good life. So I had to take her away."

Shepard puzzled. "You said Oriana is your twin, but your father created her when you were a teenager?"

The elevator drew nearer and nearer to its intended destination. Miranda continued to explain. "Oriana is my twin… Genetically. Like I said, she was meant to replace me, but I didn't want to let him do to her what he did to me. So I rescued her." Miranda checked the level indicator as it showed the elevator hitting the intended level. "She's almost a woman now." The doors opened and the squad readied their weapons in case any mercenaries were waiting for them, seeing that there were none - silence.

"I understand going your own direction, but you took a young child from her father." Shepard criticized, only confusing Mathias further.

"If you knew who my father was you'd understand my reasoning." Surprisingly, Miranda didn't frown or appear annoyed towards Shepard, she simply explained to him further. She wanted him to understand. "I wasn't the first one that he made, I was only the first one he kept." The admission shocked both Mathias and Shepard. Mathias had loved his father and his father loved him, and the idea that a parent could use their child for their own gain baffled Mathias and even disturbed him.

Miranda continued: "He never let me have fun. He never let me have friends. He constantly pushed me to meet impossible demands and strive for perfection. Failure was punished harshly and I was rarely, if ever happy. To him, I wasn't a daughter. I don't... " She sighed. "I really don't know what I was to him. I don't know if he ever even cared about me. I know I made the right decision with Oriana, because she's had a normal life."

"How old is Oriana now?" Mathias asked, dropping his confusion and feeling more sympathy towards Miranda and her sister. "You said she's nearly a woman now?"

"She'll be nineteen years old this year. She's had a much better early life than I ever had. I want it to stay that way." In saying so, the inflections in Miranda's voice changed for the better. The talk about her hard upbringing likely had gotten her down, but she likely felt better after remembering that Oriana didn't have to go through the same thing she did. She sighed. "Let's not keep them waiting. I just hope they hadn't gotten to Niket somehow. We'll probably have to cut through the cargo processing station to get there."

Shepard nodded and the squad left the elevator, slinking around the corner and behind the shipping crates in order to gain the upper hand against the Eclipse mercenaries. Off in the distance, Mathias could see an elevated tram carrying crates of shipped goods across to other areas of the shipping warehouse, and he used his Blood Sight - a vampire's ability to spot someone's heartbeat through solid objects - to see the locations of all the hiding mercenaries. He identified several mercenaries behind a large crate in the cargo processing station and warned Miranda and Shepard of their presence. They quietly approached and fired on them all with zero warning, not allowing the mercenaries to get off a single shot. Further off into the cargo processing station, more mercenaries had been alerted to their presence and took point to try and take the Normandy squad down.

Mathias hid behind his own crate while Miranda and Shepard each took their own. They killed the mercenaries one at a time. Hearing a sudden silence, Mathias stood up to get a look at the area but was immediately struck by a barrage of mercenary fire. He felt the kinetic barriers in his armour shatter and forced himself to the ground before his own body began to absorb the shots. While he sat and waited for his shields to regenerate themselves, he watched Shepard and Miranda take down the mercenaries who had shot at him and he swore to himself that he would be more vigilant so he did not have to go through a repeat.

Upon hearing nothing but silence a second time, Mathias decided to make use of his Blood Sight again, this time not seeing any beating hearts anywhere in their near vicinity. He waved to Shepard and Miranda to let them know the area was clear and they passed through, underneath the tram transporting the crates above and into the next section of the cargo processing station where the locations of the mercenaries were quite apparent. "These crates are carrying hazardous materials. Watch your shots." Miranda quietly warned, as they took cover behind the railing before the second transporting tram.

Mathias initiated combat with the mercenaries, using his biotic abilities to overload several nearby suits of armour and weapons, incapacitating three and killing one other. Miranda was able to finish off the final few mercenaries, allowing the Normandy crew to proceed forward, into a shipping storage room. Another wave of mercenaries attacked them, forcing the squad down behind heavy crates that, according to shipping labels, contained thousands of Credits worth of plush toys. As the mercenaries fired at them and they fired back, plush stuffing began filling the room.

The mercenary radio began to squawk covertly to Shepard, Miranda and Mathias. They listened to the asari's voice as they fought. "Hurry up and finish the bitch off! Niket is nearing the transport terminal. When he gets there, he'll hand the family over to me and we can be out!"

Miranda stopped for a moment, then continued firing towards the mercenaries, as more poured out of a nearby elevator to replace the fallen members that Shepard, Miranda and Mathias had taken down. Mathias was getting tired of fighting and wanted to get to Miranda's sister once and for all. He decided to end the fight then and there - he built up biotic energy within his body, causing him to float in the air as a kinetic shield guarded him from enemy fire. Shielding Shepard and Miranda, he then released the energy, killing and blowing away all remaining mercenaries. The storage room was now quiet and the three hurried to the elevator. They entered and ordered it to go up to their final destination.

"That can't be right." Miranda thought out loud, desperately searching the floor for answers. "Niket wouldn't betray me, that can't be right."

Shepard shook his head. "Maybe the Captain knows, and she's just feeding us false information to mislead us."

Miranda started pacing the elevator. "Damn it, why won't this thing go any faster?" She slammed the control panel with her omni-tool. "Maybe it means something else. I'm sure Niket wouldn't do that. He just wouldn't."

"But what if he really is sending Oriana to your father? What do we do then?" Mathias asked, his heart starting to pound a lot more quickly with the knowledge that they were nearing their final objective. He knew that the fight wasn't quite over and if this 'Niket' really was luring Oriana into her father's hands that the situation would become a lot more complicated.

"Did Niket know that you just took Oriana from your father?" Shepard asked calmly as he watched the control panel indicate their current level.

"No, he found out about that just recently. I was too nervous to tell him when I did, but… I never really thought about it, but maybe… No. He knows what I went through, he should understand what I was doing." Miranda explained. She was quite clearly on edge, especially as the elevator neared the end of its line. "He could have turned on me at any time, especially when I ran away. I'm sure my father would have tried to buy him off. If he didn't do it then, why would he do it now? I don't understand."

Sighing, Shepard prepared himself as the elevator slowed to a stop. "We won't know anything until we get to Niket. We have no choice but to wait and see."

"And I'm going to have a word with this 'Captain Enyala'."

The elevator door opened and directly in front were three people: two asari and a male human. They turned their attention to the squad as they left the elevator and casually approached them. The human man squinted slightly, then widened his eyes. "Miri."

The armoured asari who was likely Captain Enyala got up off the ledge behind them and pointed a very heavy and high-powered weapon at the Normandy squad, who responded by aiming their weapons at her. "This should be fun", she snidely remarked. The second asari took a couple of looks at the situation before making the decision to run off. Enyala turned and shot her, blowing her away.

"You sold me out, Niket. How dare you." Miranda growled. She pointed her gun directly at Niket as he stood back with his hands up.

Shepard looked over the area they were in - a docking bay. "Doesn't seem like there are any civilians here. We can end this right now", he said.

"Not before I get some answers." Miranda kept her gun pointed at Niket. "Why? Why did you do it, Niket? You helped me get away from my father, I thought you were my friend."

Niket didn't move. "Yes, but that was because you wanted to leave. That was your choice. But if I had known you stole a baby-"

"I didn't steal her, I rescued her!" Miranda interjected with a scowl on her face. "You know what my father's like!"

"No, you weren't saving her! You took her from a life of wealth and happiness! You were just getting back at your father." Rebutting, Niket's face started to turn into a frown as well, while Captain Enyala kept her weapon trained on the three.

Miranda squeezed her gun harder. "You would have known if you were in my position. You would have understood."

"How much did Miranda's father pay you, Niket?" Shepard asked, getting ready to shoot at Enyala. Mathias stood by, with his biotics flaring. If anyone was going to have the last word, it would be him and he made sure that he'd be ready to react. He felt anger towards Niket for betraying Miranda.

Sighing, Niket looked to the floor and stopped for a few seconds before shaking his head slightly. "He paid me a great deal to do this. When he told me what you had done, I told him that he could go to hell… But then you called me and told me what you did. I called him back later that night."

Grimacing, Miranda shook her gun in anger. "You could have at least let me explain! You should have let me because you wouldn't understand! You were the only one I trusted from that life. I thought I left no loose ends, but I see now that I made one mistake."

Shepard turned his head towards Miranda, but kept his eye trained on the asari. "If Niket knows about Oriana's whereabouts, your father does too."

Dropping his hands, Niket faced the ground again. "I… Miranda's father knows nothing. I didn't tell him anything." He looked back up and stepped forwards, closer to Miranda. "I knew you were spying on your father, Miri. I kept it private, I'm the only one who knows."

Mathias heard Miranda sigh a breath of relief but he kept himself ready just in case. His senses told him that this would not end pleasantly. Miranda nodded. "Which means that you're the only loose end. I wish it didn't have to end this way, Niket, but I don't think I'm going to miss you." She fired a single round into Niket's chest and watched as he fell to the ground, dead. As far as Mathias was concerned, Niket had asked for it and Shepard didn't seem all too concerned about what had happened to Niket either. Now all that was left, was Captain Enyala.

"I was tired of talking to him any-" Before Captain Enyala could finish her sentence, Miranda picked her up with her powerful biotics. "So was I." She then threw her across the room and the surrounding mercenaries began to attack the Normandy squad. They ducked down into cover and started returning fire back at them. They started cornering Shepard, Mathias and Miranda onto one side of the docking bay. They hid behind several shipping crates and started to kill the Eclipse mercenaries. Mathias heard the heavy shots coming from Enyala's powerful gun and he managed to overload it without directly pinpointing it. Enyala then began to flex her biotic muscle and used it to pick Mathias up out of cover and hover him in the air. Before Miranda was able to throw Mathias away and free him, Mathias began to absorb her biotic energy, draining her and forcing her to stop. He fell to the floor and just as another mercenary was about to grab him, he teleported himself a short distance away - right in front of Enyala. With his right arm, he picked Enyala up off the ground, by the throat and absorbed the rest of her biotic power to render her helpless.

Shepard and Miranda finished off the last few Eclipse mercenaries and approached Mathias holding the struggling Enyala. "Is there one last thing you'd like to say to her, Miranda?" Mathias asked, focusing his intensely glowing eyes into Enyala's.

"I suppose my father's going to have to try a little harder." Miranda simply said, finally issuing a 'go ahead' to Mathias. Enyala began to scream as Mathias used his biotics to burn her from the inside out, finally killing her as her skin sunk inwards. He then discarded the body on the floor. Mathias then realized that Shepard and Miranda had been looking at him aghast by the way he had killed Enyala.

"That might have been… A little harsh, if you asked me." Miranda said, as they turned and headed towards the elevator.

Mathias smirked and pressed the button to open the door. "She got what was coming to her, now let's make sure Oriana is safe." They entered the elevator and Shepard used the control panel to tell the elevator which direction to go in.

Dejected, Miranda looked towards the floor and shook her head. "I can't believe it. I can't believe Niket sold me out like that. How did I not see it coming?" Mathias was able to imagine the anger, sadness and disappointment she felt as he knew exactly what that felt like. Shepard turned to face her with a look of sympathy on his face, a nice change from his normal straight face.

"No one is perfect. We all make mistakes, but I take it you won't be repeating that one any time soon." He responded calmly with a smile. He knew that justice had been served.

Miranda sighed. "Why did he make me kill him? He could have run, he could have lied about storing the data somewhere else, but he just stood there. He knew what I would have had to do and he just let me do it."

"If it's any consolation, I would have done the same thing, Miranda. You did what you had to do. He left you no choice, and there's nothing that you can do about it now." Mathias explained. "I'm sure you heard all about it - I thought my father was dead, and I had lost him for twenty-three years. I spent that time wanting to hunt down the man who I thought killed him and thanks to Shepard I followed through. If I hadn't, my father would have been sold off to the Collectors and that worthless piece of shit might still be on the run. He had to die and I have no regrets about it. Likewise, Niket had to die and you shouldn't regret it because he betrayed you and he could have given away Oriana's location at any time."

Shaking her head, Miranda sighed and forced herself to keep back her tears, but Shepard and Mathias could both hear her breath getting heavier. "You're right. I made the mistake of trusting him when I knew in the back of my mind that I never should have trusted anyone. I'm responsible for his death, but it's not my fault." She turned around to face Shepard and Mathias. "Frankly, I don't think it's even Niket's fault either. My father's the one behind this whole mess. It's always been like this. He's always given me anything I ever wanted, but there's always been a hook, a catch, an angle for his long-term plan. When I ran, I threw away everything he ever gave me - except Niket. Is it weakness on my behalf? I don't have anyone now."

"You still have your sister, and you have us. You can always trust us." Shepard smiled.

Miranda finally smiled for the first time since they met Lanteia at the lounge. "You're right. I do have something. I guess in my rush to keep Oriana safe, I forgot that I still had her. My father didn't give her to me, I rescued her and I'm so glad that I did. I also have the Illusive Man to thank for putting me on this mission with you. Thank you."

The doors to the elevator opened and they met with Lanteia, whom Miranda ordered to take Oriana and her family to safety. Shepard ordered to have their shuttle returned to them and when it arrived, they returned to the building where the Normandy had been docked. Shepard, Miranda and Mathias returned to the trading floor and overlooked the busy area.

"No signs of Eclipse here. It looks like we're clear." Miranda observed, finally spotting three humans standing together, near the balcony. She stood and looked on for a minute before speaking again. "There she is… She's safe, with her family." Miranda quietly spoke, smiling, then looking to the ground before closing her eyes for a few seconds. "I still wish I could have had a normal life, but I'm glad that she can now. We should go."

Mathias looked on towards Oriana and her family. He saw her and how she looked just like Miranda, and he felt happy for her too. It felt unusual as he rarely cared about how other people felt. Shepard regarded Miranda. "Don't you even want to go and say hello?"

Miranda shook her head. "No. It's not about what I want, it's about what's best for Oriana. The less she knows about me, the better. She's got a family, a life. I don't want to complicate that for her."

"She doesn't need any details, but would it really be so bad for her to know she has a sister who loves her?" Shepard said, motioning for Miranda to go and speak to Oriana.

Miranda looked on and smiled. "I guess not."

"Go on, we'll wait here." Shepard said. Mathias watched Miranda smile at Shepard, then go over calmly to speak with Oriana and saw as they embraced and spoke for a little while, before Miranda returned to the squad, teary-eyed. Mathias could see Oriana looking back at them, with a smile across her face. They waved a final goodbye, then turned back towards the Normandy.

Mathias sighed. "What are we doing now?" He didn't want to go and do much else after the fight to keep Oriana out of her father's hands.

"We all need a break. Don't go too far from the Normandy, and make sure you're good for contacting us." Shepard dismissed Mathias with a smile. Mathias smiled back and decided to head back towards the lounge they were previously in for some bar food. On his way there, he noticed a human man, dressed in heavy black clothing, covertly snap a photo of him from behind a corner. He found it highly suspect and pursued the man, who hastily disappeared into one of the building's hallways.

Mathias entered the hallway and briefly saw the man, shortly before he disappeared behind another corner. Angry, Mathias pursued but didn't yell after. He didn't want to bring too much attention to himself, but whoever this man was he needed to be stopped. He entered a shuttle bay and followed the man into a darker hallway, one that most people likely didn't use. A door closed at the end and Mathias assumed that's where the man went.

The room at the end of the hall was dimly lit and had no access to windows. It was also empty and it made Mathias very nervous, more nervous than he liked. Someone had entered - he had seen it - but he saw no one in the room until someone suddenly landed on him from above, pinning him to the floor. Before Mathias could react, the man who he had been pursuing him stunned him with an hard shock from a special taser, leaving him paralyzed just long enough to tie his hands behind his back, tie his ankles together and place a dark sack over his head. Without warning, Mathias was rendered unconscious.


	9. Vampire Hunter's Prize

"Wake up!" A man's angry voice shouted, just before Mathias' face was drenched in cold water. He shot his vicious red eyes open and began to register his surroundings - a bright, white room with nothing in it besides himself and the man standing above him. His head ached. Mathias tried to get up but the man forced him back to the ground again. He soon realized that he was shackled to the floor tightly, with electronic cuffs around both ankles and wrists. He was confused and unsure of what was going on, then he remembered - this man was the man he had chased through the trading floor where the Normandy was docked. Of course, he was now unaware of his current location and was stripped of his armour, guns and other tools given to him on the Normandy.

The man in front of him crouched down to his level and forced Mathias' chin up to face him. He was a rather handsome man, with long, black hair, a black beard, slightly tanned skin and piercing blue eyes. A long scar across his right eye distinguished his face. He looked weathered as if he had been a war veteran. He wore a black fedora and a black trenchcoat. The face, though - Mathias recognized him, but couldn't quite place his finger on where, though he certainly recognized Mathias.

"Mathias von Delacroix." The man spoke with a slight British accent in a heavy, dark voice. He looked Mathias over. "After all these years, I've finally got you, you slimy bastard." He gloated with a devilish smile. "Oh, it's been difficult tracing you, but I can finally cash in. You won't get away this time."

Mathias growled. "I have priorities. Let me go." He said viciously. He expected the man to react at least somewhat intimidated by him, but he was shocked when the man remained unfazed. "What do you want with me?"

Laughing loudly, the man stood up for a second to mock him, then crouched back down to Mathias' level on the floor. "You clearly don't understand how this works. I'm Indaryn Odin." He expected a shocked and fearful response from Mathias, but his response only remained that of confusion and anger. "I'm perhaps the best vampire hunter there is. I have hundreds of kills to my name and have amassed millions of credits for their deaths. You have proven to be quite the challenge, but I was promised the biggest reward I've ever gotten for capturing and killing a vampire - you're my most valuable prize yet."

Sneering, Mathias felt his body start to shake with anger. He was infuriated by the audacity of Indaryn and couldn't believe what he was trying to do. "And how much is my life worth to you, _Indaryn_?" Mathias sarcastically mocked his name. In response, Indaryn jabbed his cheek, leaving it bleeding then stood back up.

Indaryn turned his back to Mathias and pulled up a contract on his omni-tool. "Human Command offered me one billion credits to capture and kill you, and it's finally within my grasp. I searched for twenty-three years. Twenty-three years!" Indaryn turned back around to face Mathias after putting away his omni-tool. "But I never gave up. And it's finally paid off."

"Human Command offered you a _billion_ credits to kill me? Wait… They deal in military technology, why would they put a hit on my head… And why _me_ specifically?" Mathias started struggling and Indaryn pressed a button on his omni-tool to shock Mathias back into submission. He sneered and growled. "When I get out I'm going to kill you in a way you never thought possible."

The vampire hunter chuckled. "I very seriously doubt that, and don't act like you don't know why we're after _you_ specifically - you know damn well why, you blood-sucking fiend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to prove to Human Command that I've finally captured you. Then, I'm going to plan out your death. Vampires like you are a waste of life and after all, I've still got to 'entertain' myself." Indaryn exited the small room with a maniacal laugh, leaving Mathias all alone in the quiet, empty white room. The lights then shut off, rendering the room pitch-black, though Mathias was still able to see the door thanks to his powerful night vision.

Hopelessness, fear and sadness filled Mathias' mind. "Shepard! Father!" He screamed as he broke down and began to sob. "Where are you?" He shivered underneath his black, sleeveless clothing, wondering what Indaryn had done with his armour. He felt like everything was lost and that he had betrayed Shepard by being captured. Mathias was possibly Shepard's most powerful crewmember and would likely have played a big role in defeating the Collectors, but now that he had reached the end of his line, Mathias nevermore felt like he had betrayed anyone.

The dark room was completely silent. There were no external noises besides the sounds of Mathias' gentle sobbing and troubled breathing. The sensation of mild vertigo filled his head and his chest - immediately, Mathias realized that he was now on a ship somewhere in the vast expanse of space. He immediately began to miss Shepard, Miranda, Tali and Garrus. He began to miss the Normandy and fighting in the field and he missed the irritating banter of the crewmembers at the mess hall table, but most of all, he began to miss his father. He imagined his father's reaction to receiving the news that he was either dead or missing without a trace. The thought of his father breaking down in response to the news made him cry even harder, especially with their reunion that had only lasted several days. He had no idea what to do besides sit and weep.

With nothing left to do, Mathias allowed his mind to wander to his childhood. He was having a small party to celebrate his tenth birthday with his father, his uncle, two aunts and four cousins. Out of the nine of them there, eight of them were pureblooded vampires and he was the only halfbreed there, the only one human. He felt shy, especially since everyone was there for him but the gifts he received made him feel welcome and a part of the family.

His Auntie Nazhira and her at-the-time eighteen year old daughter Romanitsa seemed very excited for Mathias to open their gift, a rather large box. They wanted him to open theirs first and when he did, a spring-loaded mask of a monster popped out at him, startling him, eliciting a chuckle from the party attendees. He almost threw it away before Romanitsa told him to keep searching it. When he did finish searching it, he found another box - a set of one thousand, interlocking building blocks. The box appeared to be brand new, not something that had been found elsewhere, secondhand or otherwise. As pureblooded vampires, they couldn't go out to normal stores and shop around like humans or even halfbreed vampires could. The fact that Nazhira and Romanitsa had given him something that was brand new meant a lot to him because it showed him what his family thought about him.

Next, Nazhira's fifteen year old son Dolamere handed him his gift. The other pureblooded vampires watched as Mathias unwrapped the shiny blue wrapping to discover that inside it was a lot of chocolate candy. "We can't really eat this stuff, but you can, and I know most humans really like that stuff. Do you like it?" Dolamere asked, his happy, bright-green eyes glowing warmly.

Mathias looked it all over. "Yeah, this is great! Thanks! I wish I could share it though." He said excitedly, as his Aunt Aliyah gave him a small present. The box was small but it had a fair amount of heft to it. Unwrapping it, Mathias found that it was a jewellery box and inside was a small, silver Italy pendant. Mathias put it on.

"I speculated that due to your mother's Italian legacy, I deduced that you may appreciate it." Aliyah said, smiling. Mathias examined the smooth, silver pendant in his fingers. He never got to meet his mother as she died giving birth to him but he remembered the pictures his father showed to him. 'A delicate, angelic Italian woman with golden locks and ember eyes', his father would describe her. Mathias imagined the reactions of his mother's parents when (or if) they discovered the fact that she had been dating such a large and terrifying beast with all those gouging teeth, or furthermore when she had become pregnant. He imagined that she would likely have kept it all a secret, which to her parents would have been a secret she took to the grave.

Mathias heard his father sigh and looked up to see him shaking his horned head, then gulping the last of an alcoholic beverage his brother Oniron had brought to Mathias' party. "Ten years to this day. I do not feel 2145 was an admirable year for any individual." Rodon sadly sat quietly for a minute before picking up the young Mathias and placing him on his lap. "Regardless, there had been one favourable occurrence that year." Rodon handed Mathias the gift that came from his Uncle Oniron and his own two sons, twenty-six year old Bromir and twenty-four year old Irvire.

The box was wrapped in black gift wrap and had considerable heft to it. Mathias eagerly unwrapped it and opened the box, seeing a video game console. It wasn't in the best shape he had ever seen and it certainly wasn't bleeding-edge technology, but he was automatically thrilled - he had gone to Calgary's shopping malls with human friends to play with the TV video games and virtual reality devices and had fallen in love with them, but he had never owned anything that could play games before.

Bromir took the console out of the box and showed it to Mathias. "We salvaged parts from an electronic waste centre late at night, cleaned them up, tested them and put them together to make one working console. I know it's nothing amazing, but we thought you'd have fun with it. I even brought some games for you. Later, we can even play them together!" Bromir handed Mathias a few small game cartridges. "Don't lose them, we don't have the digital downloads for those games." A shuttle racing game, a medieval-fantasy game, a city building game and a space war game that explored the possibilities of finding intelligent extraterrestrial life.

The final gift was handed to Mathias - Rodon's gift. Unwrapping the red giftwrap, Mathias saw a framed picture of himself when he was a mere few days old, wrapped in a handcrafted blanket. It made him smile and giggle quietly - he looked almost comically small in the hands of his father, Rodon. The massive, winged creature looked a little awkward holding his newborn son that looked almost nothing like him. As a baby, Mathias was no more than a literal handful for Rodon, much like a small puppy is with a human. He hugged Rodon.

It almost made Mathias feel better to remember that he still had that picture in his condo, thirty years later. His cheeks were wet from the tears, still waterfalling from his eyes. He wished that Indaryn would simply come back into the room to finish the job, or that he could muster up the courage to endure the electrical shocks and break his bonds even though he wouldn't be able to break down the heavy metal door in front of him. Instead, Mathias sat helplessly and hoped that by a stroke of luck, somebody would come back for him.

Thoughts of his first game console he had received on his tenth made him feel better again. The day that he got it, Bromir helped him set it up on his TV at home. The young Mathias could hardly sit still as Bromir paired the console with the TV, then configured the controllers. Once everything had been set up, Bromir booted the system and launched the shuttle racing game then scooped up Mathias and sat him on his lap and taught him how to play the game. Mathias loved being physically close to his family as it made him feel safe and comfortable.

It was soon time for his uncle, aunts and cousins to leave. After having cried and been inconsolable, Bromir made the decision to stay the night with Mathias. It immediately settled the young vampire child and right away, the two went back to playing video games on the console that Bromir had given him. Despite Mathias' physical differences in comparison to the rest of his known family, they made him feel welcome and like one of their own regardless. Even at a young age, he knew about how halfbreed vampires born of a pureblood were sometimes shunned from the rest of the family and his father's family did no such thing.

Even though Mathias was always encouraged and accepted by his family, he always had a lingering fear of sudden rejection. He imagined what might happen if his extended family or even his own father decided that he was no longer welcome or felt that he was a failure. A strong fear of being abandoned by his family developed without reason. Later that night, Mathias had a nightmare spawned of this newly developed fear, where his father kicked him out of his home and left him to fend for himself. The newly ten year old vampire woke up crying, causing Bromir, who had been sleeping on the mattress on the floor next to his bed, to wake up as well.

"How come you're upset?" The concerned Bromir asked, sitting up in his bed, stretching out his wings and arms. Bromir's wings were almost as expansive as his father's, a wingspan stretching almost the entire length of the five metre wall in Mathias' room. To reassure himself, Mathias crawled out of his bed and onto Bromir's mattress and curled up next to him and pulled the pureblooded vampire's powerful arm around himself. "What's wrong?"

"I keep getting nervous that you guys will hate me. These stupid little thoughts keep crawling into my head like bugs and I can't get rid of them." Mathias sniffled, snuggling up closer to his older cousin. "I don't want you guys to ever hate me."

Bromir shook his head and chuckled lightly. "We're never going to hate you, Mathias. We're your friends and we love you. If he had to, your dad would destroy the whole world to save you. I know because my dad would do it for me too. For both of us, even. You know, all vampires value close family ties because the world has been somewhat 'unfriendly' to us in the past."

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Mathias looked up to his cousin's brightly glowing green eyes. "But don't other halfbreed vampires sometimes get kicked out of their families because they aren't pureblooded like the rest?" He gripped onto Bromir's arm as if he were holding on for dear life, making Mathias feel somewhat strange because he wasn't normally so grabby, even when he was a small toddler, but it comforted him nonetheless. This fear would mark the first time Mathias experienced depression and anxiety, which would plague him for a large chunk of his life.

Thinking to himself, Bromir looked at the ceiling for a second or two before returning his gaze to Mathias. "It's happened sometimes, but not all the time, you know. Trust me, we're not like that and we're not going to leave you. You're still my little baby cousin." Bromir said as he playfully roughed up Mathias' hair. "You know, I still remember holding you when you were just a week old."

Mathias hugged Bromir and laid back down on his mattress with him. "You think we can play more video games tomorrow?" Mathias asked.

"Sure thing, little one. You can choose."

The sensation of a slight vertigo filled Mathias' body as the ship he was in either changed trajectory or speed. It may have even been stopping, but without any sort of ship monitor it was impossible to tell, especially with Mathias' prison cell having no windows at all. He perked up when he heard some noises outside the room he was in and braced himself when there were fast footsteps headed in his direction. The door flew open and Indaryn burst in. Angrily, he knelt down and gripped Mathias by the throat as the door slid shut behind him.

"You did something to my bloody ship. What did you do?" He shouted, staring into Mathias' eyes. Mathias did nothing but grimace at Indaryn who backhanded him in retaliation. "What did you do!?"

Mathias attempted to sniffle back up the blood that began dripping from his nose, though to no avail and he continued to sneer into Indaryn's eyes. "I did nothing to your precious ship, you black-bearded fop. Don't get your underwear in a knot."

Indaryn pressed his hand on Mathias' throat more firmly, choking him. "My ship's been forced to stop. Care to explain?" Indaryn growled and pulled a knife from his boot. "You know what? Fuck it. This ends here and I'm not going to sugar-coat it."

The vampire hunter went to press his knife against Mathias' throat and presumably cut it, but before he was able to do so, Mathias built up strength and biotic energy in his body to resist the electric shock for when he broke the cuffs off his wrists and ankles. He turned the tables on Indaryn when he had him pressed to the ground. Indaryn struggled to get Mathias off and to get up.

"The fuck?! Those cuffs were made of the highest quality ibnubium! How'd you break them?" Indaryn spat in Mathias' face, who then picked him up off the floor and threw him against the wall. Indaryn landed on his face and Mathias flipped him onto his back so he could taunt him further. Using his biotics, Mathias kept Indaryn pinned to the floor without having to crouch down or keep his foot on his throat.

A devilish smile stretched across Mathias' face. "Have you ever encountered a Son of the Cold Depths before?" Mathias derided, watching Indaryn's expression turn to one of disconcert. "A halfbreed, sired by a pureblood?"

Metal screeched and clashed. "I would take that as a no." A monstrous voice boomed through the room and when Mathias looked up, he saw his father, having ripped the door out. Rodon picked up Indaryn by the throat and his incandescent orange eyes burned Indaryn's, forcing into him intense fear. He pained to ease Rodon's firm grip, but to no triumph. "It would appear you've reached the conclusion of your natural life, Indaryn - the 'famed vampire hunter'. I will not allow you to seize a further vampire life, most especially that of my son."

Looking into the piercing blue eyes of the vampire hunter, Rodon began to clamp down on his neck, causing him to suffocate. Backed off, Mathias watched as Indaryn struggled to release Rodon's iron-clad grip, then as his face turned blue and finally as the struggling came to a halt. Rodon maintained his grip long enough to ensure the flow of oxygenated blood to Indaryn's brain had truly been cut off in order to cause brain death, then he dropped the lifeless body to the floor.

Mathias turned around and noticed that Shepard, Miranda and Garrus had been standing behind him with their guns pointed at Indaryn. Once everything had calmed down, they put their guns down to allow for an explanation. Mathias leaped into Rodon's arms and held on with his own wrapped tightly around his neck, Rodon returning the embrace. Mathias forcefully inhibited himself from crying in front of everyone.

With his face buried into Rodon's neck, Mathias focused on Rodon's relaxing heartbeat while listening to his surroundings. It was very storybook - a completely hopeless situation, then being saved almost miraculously - but to Mathias it was exceedingly real.

"We spent a good few hours looking for you, Mathias. Perhaps more time than I would have liked. What did you do to get kidnapped? We can't afford to delay this mission." Shepard lectured with the sounds of electronic beeping and mechanical clanking in the background of his voice. "We were lucky he hadn't engaged his FTL drivers. We're still in Illium space."

Coming from his father's throat, close and powerful vibrations accompanied by a low gnarr, rumbled in Mathias' ears and sinuses. He could feel his father's claws pressing slightly into his back. "Not anyone principally wishes to be abducted. I do not presuppose you to sympathize but do know this machiavellian hunter has executed hundreds of innocent vampires on the pretense and presumption of their evil nature." Anger was very clear in Rodon's voice. "He was acutely devious in a way most unlike other vampire hunters and the life of Mathias had been in peril. Do not indict my son."

"Very well." Shepard backed down and Mathias felt the movement of footsteps as his father carried him out of the ship and back onto the Normandy. "The captured ship may provide us with useful information and will likely be useful to Cerberus in some way. If not, it'll end up in the used ships market on Omega or the Citadel. It's a Krogan design, so I'm sure it will prove useful."

Rodon let Mathias down to stand on his own. "I can't believe you found me. That guy… Indaryn, he said he knew who I was, but-" Rodon stopped Mathias.

"Indaryn explicitly is the justification for having you keep near when you had been especially youthful." They walked past the galaxy map and headed towards the observation deck one level down, where they continued their conversation alone. "The hunter of vampires may have perished; however, as well I am yet distrustful. Indaryn pursued and hunted you over the course of two decades."

Mathias sighed and rolled his eyes under his closed eyelids. "That won't happen again. If you hadn't ripped the door to my cell out, I would still have been able to save myself. I'm not a child, father. You know what I'm capable of and you know I'm not scared." Clenching his fists at the image of Indaryn still burnt into his mind, Mathias gazed out the large window at the passing stars against the black tapestry of space, as the Normandy drew nearer to the asari-controlled world of Illium.

"As well you know of my perceptiveness. I understand eminently you do maintain an emotional veneer. You only let on so much." The sectional creaked under Rodon's weight. The observation deck remained silent for a few minutes, Mathias not turning his vision from the observation window. Rodon continued: "A transformation had taken place in your mind and body from the time we previously spoke twenty-three years ago; however, it was not as extensive as your façade suggests. Deep-rooted within you, your psychological quarrel persists. Subdued, but persists nonetheless. I may remain shaken, yet I am still able to read you in the manner of an open book."

Knowing what Rodon said was true, Mathias remained silent. He continued to hide his true emotions and stare out into the endless void, though now drawn into his own mind, pondering himself. Mathias loved the way he turned out. He was dark and mysterious, and his appearance suggested a strange, enigmatic physical appeal. His skull-tattooed face, naturally luminous red eyes, white-streaked black hair, snow-white skin, beautifully protruding fangs and well-defined and developed muscles were all to his taste and in his mind he had achieved physical perfection and loved the way he turned out; however, he knew his current appearance and psychological shift were intended to erase the past. He thought that if he had not changed himself, he would be constantly reminded of the painful events in his past life - his academic struggles, his struggles with friendship, the loss of his father, but most of all, his debilitating depression. He wanted it all gone and had eliminated it shortly after he turned eighteen.

"It pains me to say, I truly am astonished to observe you alive." Rodon breathed quietly, his voice being picked up by Mathias' acute hearing, who remained faced towards the observation window. "After you and I were separated years ago, I wholly ruminated on the conclusion I would never see you again - that you would have forcibly brought about your life's end, like twice attempted before."

Mathias turned his ear back towards Rodon. "No. When Moray separated us, a part of my mind woke up. I sought to change myself when I thought you were dead. I wanted to hunt down the man I thought had slain you. I wanted to make him bleed, I wanted to make him writhe on the floor in absolute terror and agony." Mathias growled, turning to face his father completely. "No matter how long it took me, I knew in my heart that I wanted to make Moray beg for death. I could not have let Moray win by foolishly taking my own life. My desire for revenge compelled me to act, to enact justice, and to find you. I knew I would thank myself later for not killing myself, because I was able to rescue you. You had always protected me, and I wanted to protect you."

A further silence filled the observation deck once more, Mathias returning his gaze back out the large window to watch the Normandy's descent into Illium's atmosphere. He sighed as the sound of the door opening brought his attention to the back of the room. Miranda stood in the door's opening, holding Mathias' armour. "We recovered your armour and omni-tool from that ship. Shepard wants to know if you'll be accompanying him and I to recruit the Assassin and the Justicar."

Mathias took his set of armour from Miranda and began to dress himself in it, first equipping his omni-tool. "I'll see you on Illium, back where we started." He said.


End file.
